


Two Sides of the Same Coin

by Jenn_Ayara



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Major Character Injury, SORRY IM BAD AT TAGS, im also bad at summaries, some described violence but its not so bad i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:21:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25269760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenn_Ayara/pseuds/Jenn_Ayara
Summary: I wrote this before we all learned the truth. I understand that people want nothing to do with him, but I am proud of how this story played out and will not remove it... I will remove the AH tags.The Reader and James Haywood meet in a park and immediately hit it off. They spend a lot of time together and develope a strong relationship, but what happens when something about James is revealed that the Reader struggles to come to terms with?
Relationships: (GTAV)Ryan Haywood/female!Reader
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

“Another night-time robbery has been reported, and, unfortunately, the infamous group most commonly known as _The Fakes_ is still at large. Police continue to search for them unsuccessfully as-” The reporter’s voice stops abruptly as the television is turned off, a loud sigh of boredom erupting from your lips. To be honest, you were tired of always hearing about the Fakes on the news. Sometimes you wondered if they blamed every little mishap on the well-known, yet evasive, group. The Fakes were so commonly reported on that you could list off their known members and perhaps even a few physical traits of each. Fortunately, you’ve never actually come across them in any of their heists, but that’s because you weren’t stupid, and knew how to survive in a major city like Los Santos.  


There were six, total, that showed up on the news most frequently. Two went unnamed, typically only recognised by their voices, recovered on lost cameras and/or the receiving end of lost communication devices. The others were known best as Vav, Mogar, X-Ray and the Vagabond. You noticed, one day, that you heard less and less of X-Ray, and more and more of a new man, with the unusual name Rimmy Tim. You figured the former was killed or wounded, and the latter was simply a replacement or back-up. Based off of police recordings of chases, Vav and one of the unnamed voices commonly manned escape vehicles. Vav typically managed to find some way to fuck up the Fakes’ plans, or got himself hurt in the process, wearing only tinted shades to hide his identity. Mogar was violent, but not murderous. He tended to go for the intimidation effect on his victims, having a loud, booming voice and typically wearing a bear mask. X-Ray was the sniper- he usually covered his crews’ backs, and helped them escape when they were on the run. He didn’t say much, but there really wasn’t much to be said. He wore a white masquerade mask that covered his upper face and nose. When X-Ray left, he was replaced with Rimmy Tim, an eccentric and loud man, who had the ability to be smart and make quick decisions, but also made himself seem like a strange mix of Mogar and Vav’s personalities. He wore an outlandish suit of purple and orange, with a cowboy hat and tinted shades to hide his face.  


The other three, consisting of the two unnamed and the Vagabond, were clearly the ones that should be feared more. There was a male voice and a female voice. The female rarely got herself involved in drama, but she was exceptional at maneuvering airborne vehicles. She was always right there to back up the rest of her team, and usually ended up being the only reason any of them ever got out alive. The male seemed to be the leader. You’d think that being the ringleader of an infamous heist group would mean that the decisions he’d make would be more logical and not so… reckless- but the recordings that the police had managed to pick up relayed only screamed directives to “Get the fuck away!” and “Hide, asshole! They’re gonna find us!” and “Vav, you fuckin’ prick, get back here! I need to get in that damn copter!” Although he was the leader of them all, he was far from being the most feared. The final known member of the Fakes… The Vagabond. Just thinking about the way he would grin knowingly at the cameras in each of the places they robbed, the way he mercilessly murdered every civilian he came across… It made you shiver in dread. The man was absolutely out of his mind, no doubt about it. He had no sense of humanity left in his cold, dead eyes. His face was covered in red, black and white face pain, making the shape of a skull across his mouth. He also commonly wore a black mask, also a skull shape. All you really knew about the Vagabond was that, should you ever come across him in one of his heists- which you hoped to God that you never would- you would have no choice but to accept your fate and let him kill you.  


You sighed and shut off all the lights in the main rooms before heading to your room and going to bed. You had a long day of work ahead of you, and there was no way you could afford being late again. You had a habit of ensuring all your doors and windows were locked before sleeping, despite being on the fourth floor of a decent apartment. Again, you were well accustomed to the city life, and you wouldn’t be making any rookie mistakes any time soon. The apartment is small, but it works for you, since you have no partner and never intend to have one. You didn’t mind as much as most would think- you really just never had the time to worry about lovers. It was okay. You’ve been lonely for your entire life, so this was nothing new. Some could say you even prefer it this way. You fall asleep with a content smile, wondering idly about how your day will go.

You wake up in the morning on time, and go through your morning routine as usual. You make sure everything is closed and locked shut before grabbing your keys and jacket and heading out for work. You lock your door securely before heading for the elevator. Checking your phone, you smile at your punctuality and head for your car, which is also regularly checked on and frequently fixed to make sure that nothing is ever faulty. Some might call you overly precautious, but based off of the destruction of the city because of the Fakes, you consider your precaution just right. You set off for work, and arrive just on time. There’s rarely ever a moment when you’re too late, and you’re never too early. You set up for work, and get started, greeting your coworkers with friendly smiles and waves all around.

Work goes by smoothly for you, and you’re happy to see that the sun will still be up for another hour or two when you leave your job. You hop in your car and make a detour to the park, humming quietly to yourself as you drive. You park your car and lock up, taking a picture so that you don’t forget where you’ve parked. Still humming as you start walking, you find yourself scrolling through your phone as you walk, glancing up occasionally and only half-heartedly looking for a bench to sit down at before you bump into someone.  


You smile as a small bench catches your eye, and glance at your phone briefly, checking your messages as you sing quietly to yourself, “And I’m your dying beauty- oomf!” You find yourself on your ass, blinking your eyes and shaking your head a bit before checking your phone for any cracks. Once you’re sure your phone is okay, you stand up and smile apologetically at the person standing in front of you. “Sorry about that, sir,” you say softly, trying to avoid coming off as threatening or irritated. He lifted an eyebrow at you for a moment, tilting his head slightly. His dark ponytail fell to the side, catching your attention briefly before your eyes returned to his face. Dark hair, bright eyes. Casual clothes, yet still reasonably more fashionable than yours.  


“You should watch-” he starts, lifting a hand expressively, before you interrupt him. “I know, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be looking at my phone while walking. Actually,” you pause and point to the bench you had previously spotted, “I was just headed over there so I wouldn’t bump into anyone. I guess I was a bit too slow…” You bring your hand up to the back of your neck sheepishly. He seems to nod approvingly before shrugging. “Well, if that’s all you need, then, sir, I’d like to-” You start to walk, but his hand catches your wrist and he interrupts you, this time. “Would you mind having some company?”  


His question completely catches you off guard, and you hum softly, pretending to think about it. Truth be told, you could do for a friend. You bite your lip lightly before nodding finally. “Okay. Sure. Am I worthy of learning your name, then, sir?” He smiles and laughs a little, a mysterious emotion twinkling in his eyes for a moment. “James Haywood. You may call me James,” he says. You nod a little, and he looks at you curiously. “And you, my fair lady?” You blush softly, to which he responds to with a playful wink. “(Y/n),” you respond softly. He had released your wrist shortly after asking to accompany you at the bench, so you start walking, listening to his footsteps behind you. They’re heavy, but not loud. It would become a comforting sound if you could listen to it for long enough.  


Taking a seat on the bench, you pat the spot beside you and smile up at James brightly. He gives a small smile back, and you notice that it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and wonder if there might be something on his mind. You figure that maybe he’s just looking for a distraction. “So, James…,” you hum softly, idly folding your hands together and looking around, smiling when you see the sky. “The sky sure is pretty this evening, isn’t it?” He nods a little, and you watch his chest rise and fall in a small sigh. “Do you have a job?” You ask softly. He glances at you, then nods again. “Yeah. It’s alright,” he shrugs. “Is that why you’re out here? To relax after a long day?” You only ask because that’s why you’re there. “Eh… Sort of. You could say that, I suppose.” A soft silence settles between the two of you, and you find yourself relaxing next to James. You’re conscious enough to not lean on him, though, as he’s technically still a stranger, and may be dangerous.  


“Why Los Santos?” His question breaks the silence, startling you. You shrug a little. “Family problems back home. They wanted me out, so… I got my shit together and left. It was pretty easy to find a place here, probably because the crime rates are through the roof currently… But I don’t mind. The city life has never been too cruel to me.” You smile sadly as you recall the argument you had before you gathered your belongings and moved away from home for good. He almost seems to sympathise with you; you can see his eyes darken slightly in what you can only assume is pain or regret. It’s gone a moment later, however, and he’s glancing at the sky again. He seems to remember something, suddenly, and stands up. He hesitates, then says, “I, uh… I know it may not seem like it, but I enjoy your company… Could I get your number, and we can hang out again some time?” Your eyebrows raise slightly in surprise, and you nod a little. “Um, yeah, sure. It- uh… Actually,” you pause and pull out your phone, pulling up the contacts app and handing him your phone. “Here, just put your number in my phone and text yourself.” You smile a little. You’re not worried about him taking off with your phone. Actually, you find yourself rather relaxed around James, which is odd considering you’ve only just met. You wonder if he feels the same.  


He does as you’ve suggested, and then hands you your phone back. “I’ve got to get going. My family is, uh… We’re having a get together tonight and they all expect me to be there. I’d um… I’d love to hang out again sometime… Maybe a movie, or coffee? Both?” You laugh softly at all of his awkwardness, most noticeable in the way that he shifts his weight and rubs the back of his neck. You wink playfully. “I’ll think about it, James. You should get moving, or you run the risk of being late. See you some other time, sir Haywood. It was a pleasure to meet you.” He laughs softly, and shakes his head a little. “Uh, no, the pleasure’s all mine, surely.” You blush softly and bid each other farewell, waiting for him to turn around and start walking away before you turned and headed back to your car. You head home and shower again, combing your hair and putting it up in a loose ponytail before heading to bed.  


You’re ready to fall asleep, but an abrupt buzz awakens you and you check your phone curiously. You see a text message, and open it, wondering if it’s James. Your guess is correct, and you find a message from him waiting.  


J: _“Hope I’ve given you enough time to decide on if that coffee is a go?”_  


Y: _“Hmm… Okay. Where, When and what time, Mr. Haywood?”_  


J: _“Friday, around 2-ish? There’s a little shop near my place that has pretty good coffee.”_  


You think about it for a moment, mentally going over your work schedule and frowning a little.  


Y: _“I work on Friday. Maybe Sunday? Same time and place?”_  


J: _“They’re closed on Sundays, but I have another place in mind that should be open. Is that okay?”_  


Y: _“Yeah, that’s perfect. See you then! Goodnight, James.”_  


J: _“Goodnight, (Y/n). Sleep well.”_  


With a smile, you set the date on your calendar and then place your phone down, checking your doors and windows again before lying down and going to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The days go by and you almost seem to forget about your meeting with James. Of course, thinking about it makes you smile like an idiot- you finally seem to have made a friend- but, when thinking about James is not directly relevant, you focus solely on what you’re doing. You do, however, find yourself increasingly nervous as Sunday approaches nearer, wondering idly about what to wear, how to style your hair, whether you should wear make-up and just how early you should arrive. In terms of appropriate arrival times, you’re not quite sure how punctual James himself is, but you figure 5-10 minutes early would be good enough, this way he isn’t waiting for too long or vice versa.  


Finally, when Sunday arrives, you’re awake around 9am and getting in for a shower. From the bathroom, you hear your phone go off. You quickly shower and apply a bit of lip colour and eye shadow before smiling to yourself in the mirror and nodding approvingly. By 11am, you are working on drying your hair just right, so that it doesn’t frizz up or curl ridiculously. You put your hair up in a simple, neat bun and call it a day, and then check your phone for a brief moment- a message from James. You bite your lip softly, then pick out your outfit and get dressed, eyeing yourself up and down in the mirror to make sure everything is perfect. You’ve never been on a real date, so you question if maybe you’re being overly prepared, but, anything could happen.  


When you finally get around to checking your phone, quite a bit of time has passed. You pull open the app and tap into your chat with James, reading his message quickly.  


J: _“Hey, just checking in. You still on for this afternoon?”_  


Y: _“Yep! Just finished getting ready. I’m really excited.”_  


J: _“Me too. See you soon!”_  


You smile to yourself and set your phone down before pausing in your train of thought. You pick your phone up again and text James once more.  


Y: _“Hey, do you mind if I ask where we’re going? I figure I’d be meeting you there, but… I don’t exactly know where we’re going.”_  


J: _“Oh! Silly me, haha. Sorry. Actually, could I just pick you up? It’s in a bit of a… tricky part of the city, and I don’t want you to get lost :)”_  


You pause for a moment, hesitating on the idea of getting into James’ car. He seems like a nice guy, yeah, but… Is he safe enough to be getting into his car already?  


Y: _“Oh. Uh, yeah! Sure. Here’s my address:”_  


You type out your address, including the building and room number, and pause for just a moment before hitting send, taking a deep breath and sighing quietly. You wait idly, knowing that there are quite a few hours ahead, but reluctant to do anything in case you mess something up. You walk around your flat, bringing all of your necessities to your bedroom and double checking everything as you set up a bag. “Keys, wallet, money… Phone…” You nod slightly and leave your room again for a brief snack, something to stave off your hunger while waiting for James. You know, technically, you could just eat breakfast or lunch. However, there’s a chance that the coffee shop may also have some baked goods, so you want to leave room for whatever pastries might be there.  


Before you know it, the few hours have gone by and you’re startled by loud, brief knocking at your apartment room’s door. You check the time, and smile as you see 1:55pm displayed on your phone screen. You gather up your things and shoulder your bag, checking your reflection one last time before walking to the door and answering it with a shy peek. “James?” you whisper softly, smiling as your gaze is met with a flat, broad chest in a simple flannel. He’s wearing deep blue jeans with a black leather belt, and smiles politely when your eyes finally meet his gaze. “Would you happen to be expecting anyone else, my fair lady?” he asks playfully. You laugh lightly and shake your head a little. “No, you’re my only visitor, sir Knight.” There’s a brief, unmistakable flash of something dark in his eyes when you call him a knight, but you shrug it off, wondering if maybe he took it to offense.  


He bows briefly, and then offers you his arm. He grins mischievously, giving you a playful wink and you take his arm and walk with him to the elevator. “You look stunning, (Y/n), and I really appreciate your preparation, but… It’s only a coffee date,” he comments quietly as you hit the elevator button to go down to the ground floor. “I know, James. But I wanted to look nice. Is that such a crime?” You brush your shoulder against his teasingly, then smile brightly. “The only crime currently being committed is your beauty,” he whispers softly, watching your face light up in a bright blush. He smiles in return and guides you out of the apartment complex, leading you to his car and opening the passenger side door for you. You thank him and climb into the unsurprisingly nice vehicle, and he shuts the door behind you. He then walks around the car, winking at you as he walks by, and climbs in with you. The car starts with a low hum as you buckle up, pulling the strap securely across your chest.  


You smile at James and he pulls out of his parking space, gently accelerating down the road and following the rules to a T. You weren’t certain of what his usual driving style was, but, based off of the model of the car, it wasn’t “calm and careful down the road”. You hum softly to yourself, mumbling some of the words softly. James never says anything, so you figure he doesn’t hear you, but then you’re interrupted with a small, “You’ve got a nice voice. Ever thought about doing anything with it?” You glance at him, but he hasn’t taken his eyes off the road. With a start, you realise that he’s actually focusing on parking, and that you’re right across from where you assume he’s taking you. You decide not to answer and he glances at you as he turns off the engine, quirking one eyebrow slightly.  


With a quiet, “eh,” you shrug again. “I got lucky when I came here. I was offered a position at my current job almost as soon as I moved into my apartment. I never really put any thought into the possibility of giving up my current career for something that I might not ever actually achieve.” James nods a little as he gets out of the car, and you quickly unbuckle and open the passenger door, too, only to see him stop in his tracks and blink at you. “I was going to come around and get your door… But I see you’re a strong, independent woman.” He smiles encouragingly and you step out of the vehicle, grabbing your bag and closing the door. You step up next to James quickly, looking up at him briefly and nodding a little before the two of you cross the street and enter the shop.  


You find that within the coffee shop are a couple of tables and booths along the walls and windows, with scattered waiters and waitresses making sure everybody is happy and comfortable. The volume is low, with music that fits the mood of the small shop just right. The barista greets the two of you with a polite smile. She seems genuinely happy to be at work today. “Hi! What can I get for you’s?” James seems to already have an idea of what he wants, but you don’t listen to his order. You’re too busy looking at the pastries. James nudges you slightly and you look up to see them both staring at you expectantly. “Oh, uhm…,” you glance at James for a moment before giving your order, picking your pastry much sooner than you wanted. You wanted to try them all, but… For now, you’d have to go for the most appealing one.  


You wait patiently at the counter for your drinks and pastry, and James idly points out, “I never took you for the pastry type?” You shrug, bringing your hand up to your neck sheepishly. “Yeah, I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I bake a lot at the apartment, but nothing I make ever compares to the stuff I can get from these cute little shops.” You laugh nervously, wondering if your sweet tooth might make James lose interest in you. He chuckles softly. “It’s alright. I’ve been, uh, losing weight lately, though, so… I’ve kind of been trying to stay away from sweet, sugary things.” He runs a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his face. The barista comes up to you with your orders and bids you a good day, and you find yourself a table and relax together.  


You enjoy your drinks in peace, occasionally bringing up something to talk about but maintaining a comfortable silence for the most part. He watches you as you munch on your pastry, followed by you leaning your head back in bliss and letting out a noise of pure bliss. “Fuck, that’s so good.” You fail to notice the blush that dusts his cheeks, and the near-primal look he gives you, too wrapped up in your pastry. You finally come back down, and smile brightly at James. “Are you sure you don’t want to try just a little bit?” you offer. He shakes his head, waving his hand a little with a smile. “No, I’m good, thank you. Enjoy yourself.” He looks around for a few seconds, then glances at his phone for the time. You’ve noticed a minimal use of his phone throughout the time that you’ve hung out with him, and you’re pretty okay with that.  


When you’ve finished your drink and pastry, you offer to split the bill. It’s not much, but you feel inclined to pay your part since you got more than he did. He rejects your offer, despite your persistence, and pays for all three items. The two of you leave together, though you’re a bit pouty for being denied the ability of proving your worth. He rests a hand on your shoulder and smiles a little. “This is my treat. Please, don’t be upset that I paid for it. I don’t mind, truly.”  


He gets into his car and waits patiently for you to follow suit before continuing, “besides, we can split the cost next time… If you’d like there to be a next time, perhaps..?” He smiles hopefully and you can’t help but give him a happy grin in return. “Of course. I’d love a second date, James.” He does a little fist pump in the air, seeming confident and happy with his own achievements. “That’s amazing. I can’t wait. Allow me to take you home?” You bite your lip softly then nod a little. “Well, I am already in your car, so…” He pauses, then laughs a bit. “Right, yes. Of course. Silly me,” he says. “Off we go!”  


He takes you home, still just as cautious as before, though not as quiet anymore. You talk about a couple things, though you feel as if he’s hiding quite a bit about himself. You don’t press too hard, since you don’t know him all that well and don’t want to upset him. His body language is pretty easy to pick up on- things like when he’s nervous or uncomfortable, or simply reluctant to discuss a topic any further. You wonder if maybe James is a little grateful that you’re new to the whole dating scene, since you’re a lot less pushy to get to know each other as quickly. After a while of conversation, the car falls quiet and he parks as close to your apartment as he can. “Are you okay to get to the building on your own, or would you care for an escort..?” James asks, seeming rather nervous yet somehow charming. You tilt your head a little, humming softly to yourself. “I think I’d like the company.” You finally decide. You watch his eyes light up, and it makes you feel accomplished somehow.  


The two of you exit his car together and make your way to your apartment building, talking quietly and trying to keep the conversation alive with anything and everything. You learn that he has roommates, he says he considers them to be family. He seems very fond of them, but also reluctant to say much about them. Curiosity towards his secretive behaviour piques for a moment, but you decide that maybe he’s just not ready to open up yet. You’re able to connect the roommates he mentioned to the same family who had called on James for a celebration the day you met him, and smile a little knowing that at least he’s got people who care about him. You find yourselves in front of your door in what seems like such a short amount of time.  


With a sigh and a small smile, you turn to James and bow a little bit. “I really enjoyed this afternoon, James. I really hope we can meet again somewhere,” you say softly. He nods quickly. “Of course. Maybe we can go see a movie or something. I know that movies aren’t really ideal for ‘getting-to-know-you’ dates, but… You can tell a lot about a person based off of their preferred genre.” He winks at you and you catch a brief change in his gaze from playful to some other unknown emotion. You reach for your key card to open your door, humming softly with a little nod. “Yeah. Well,” you say as you open your door, “until next time, Mr. James Haywood. I hope you enjoyed today as much as I did.” He nods quickly, managing, “oh, I did,” and “see you some other time!” before you closed the door with a bright smile.  


You sigh a lean against your door, closing your eyes. Now that you were alone, the exhaustion of being so social is catching up to you. It’s too early to actually go to sleep, but too late in the evening for any sort of nap, so you make yourself something to eat and settle down on the couch. You switch on your television and watch Netflix for some time, until you catch yourself falling asleep multiple times and finally decide to go to bed. You go through your nightly routine with all the locks, and send James a quick text, simply thanking him for the wonderful date and bidding him goodnight, before shutting off your phone and going to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Over the course of the next few days, you definitely find yourself thinking about James a lot more often. He’s open, but he doesn’t share much. He’ll tell you what’s on his mind, but he won’t share the full story. You’ve only managed to nudge yourself into a smaller part his life, it seems. You wouldn’t say that you mind it too much, really, but you often spend time trying to fill in the blanks of his stories. You smile to yourself a lot at work, now, as well.  


Your phone buzzes on your desk at work, and you look around quickly, hoping nobody heard it. You tap your screen and unlock your phone, checking the notification. James is texting you. You hesitate, wondering if he’s worth risking your job for, and decide to open the message.  


J: _“Hey. The theatre in town is showing one of the John Wick movies. Do you want me to get us some tickets?”_  


You pause for a moment, surprised that he’s already asking for another date. You feel happiness bubbling up inside of you, and a certain giddiness causes you to smile brightly as you respond to James’ text with positivity. You then return back to your work, and a few minutes later he texts you back.  


J: _“Okay. Tickets are bought for later tonight. I picked the time to coincide with the general time that I first saw you. I hope that’s alright with you.”_  


Y: _“Yep! That’s perfectly fine. I’ll meet you at the theatre after work :)”_  


J: _“Perfect :)”_  


The rest of your day went by much faster, since you had something to look forward to. Before you even realise how late it’s gotten, your coworker knocks on your desk, grabbing your attention with a start. “Hey, your shift is done. I’m taking over,” they say, smiling politely. You glance at the time, then nod a little. “Thanks,” you say, collecting all your stuff before making your way out of the building. You get in your car and check the time again before starting your car and heading towards the theatre.  


James is standing outside, looking nervous as he waits. You can tell he just got out of work, too. His hair is pulled back neater, and he’s wearing what almost looks like a full suit. You make the guess that he works in some big-shot company, looking him up and down with unhidden attraction. When he sees you, his eyes light up and he holds his hand out for you. You approach him and take his hand, and he gives you one of the printed out tickets he has. You walk in together, show your tickets and pick your seats. He then guides you to the popcorn and candy, and you hesitate. “You said we’d be able to split it, so… You pay for what you get and I’ll pay for my own stuff,” you remind him gently. He frowns slightly, humming quietly. “You’re right. I did say that. So be it,” he accepts.  


You each get your own items, and meet in the line to wait for the room to open. You talk quietly about your day at work, passing back some mild gossip about the current happenings with your coworkers. While most of them like you, you don’t exactly like a good majority of your coworkers. James admits that most of his coworkers are afraid of him, seeming a little embarrassed at the fact. “What? How can they fear you? You’re just a big ol’ teddy bear!” You argue. He shrugs a little, but something in his eyes informs you that he knows the answer and is just keeping it from you. You push a little harder, and then give up, deciding you didn’t want him to show you why he’s so feared.  


You wait patiently for the staff to finish “cleaning” and open the doors, bouncing gently in place. You get an odd look from James at one point, but he doesn’t say anything; he only shakes his head and smiles. You start idly munching on your popcorn after a few minutes. “I wouldn’t do that,” James says softly, watching you munch. “The movie is pretty long, and you wouldn’t want to run out midway through.” You shrug, but stop eating the snack. He made a good point, after all. Movie theatre snacks are always way too expensive, and it sucks to have to get more of anything. Unfortunately, there was no time for snack prep, so you had no choice but to buy from the theatre.  


The doors finally open and the two of you walk in with everybody else, quickly making your way to your seats before any others take them. You relax in your seat, closing your eyes and tilting your head back. “It’ll be awhile until the movie actually starts, so I’m just going to rest my eyes for a bit if that’s alright…,” you sigh softly. James doesn’t respond, so you figure that he’s okay with it, and yawn softly. You barely pay attention to the advertisements and movie trailers, breathing soft and slow as you rest.  


You’re gently shaken awake about 20 minutes later by James, who smiles at you politely before nodding towards the screen. The lights dim and then turn off, and you decide to go back to munching on the popcorn. At first, your interest dies a bit as the movie starts relatively slow, and you start to fall asleep again. However, the loud noises that eventually pick up and replace the previous scenes cause you to wake with a start and focus more on what’s actually taking place. You lean forward a bit, your eyes wide, as you try to take in everything that’s going on all at once. James keeps glancing at you, and it makes you feel inexplicably happy.  


Your interest remains captured for the rest of the movie, and a few tears are, inevitably, shed. You feel a little awkward for crying, but thankfully James never says anything about it. The two of you sit through the credits until everybody else has gone. You stand up and take notice of your empty popcorn bag, pouting a little before shrugging dismissively. You smile brightly at James and offer him your hand, giving him time to take it before leading him out of the room and then the theatre. You throw out your trash on your way out, stopping just outside the building’s main doors to look at the man before you.  


“So, uh… Thanks a lot for inviting me to this, James. I really enjoyed the movie and, even though we didn’t really say much, I’m happy to have gotten to spend time with you.” You grin at him, blushing a light pink. He gives a small smile back, and nods in agreement. “Yeah. I’m happy to spend time whenever you’re available, (Y/n). I’d love to keep doing these kinds of things… If you want to, that is.” He rubs the back of his neck, glancing away and shifting his weight a bit. You hum quietly before nodding. “I think I have off next Thursday. Maybe I can make some reservations, and we can go to dinner..?” You offer shyly. He bites his lip, his gaze changing slightly into one a bit more focused, before he agrees finally. “Yeah. I think I could make time for that,” he says finally. “Just, uh, give me the specifics over text, I suppose. And, uh… I guess I’ll see you at dinner next Thursday.”  


James visibly hesitates before holding his arms open, cocking his head slightly in curiosity. “Do you maybe, um, want a goodbye hug? Is that appropriate for our- what, second date? Third, if you count the day we met?” You laugh softly and wrap your arms around his midsection securely, finding yourself pressing closer and relaxing completely in his hold. Before you can convince yourself that you never want to leave, you step back, biting your lip and shuffling your feet a little. “I, um… Well… I guess I’ll see you for dinner,” he finally manages. He gives you a small wave and backs up a bit before turning around and walking away.  


You head back to your car and get in, starting it up and heading home for the night. At your apartment, and inside your flat, you check the doors and windows and grab a shower before heading to bed. You don’t get a text from James, but you figure maybe he was just busy with his family or something. You let out a heavy sigh as you close your eyes and sleep.

Thursday morning, you wake up and go throughout your usual work prep routine. Your breakfast is simple, your shower is quick, picking your clothing goes by without you second guessing yourself on how appropriate it is. Your life is pretty easy. It’s not like you’ve ever had anything to be depressed or anxious about, nothing ever traumatized you and you don’t have any unusual fears… Some may call you privileged, but you just consider yourself normal, really.  


Your day at work goes pretty smoothly. There’s a minor inconvenience between a coworker and a customer, which your boss told you to solve. They wouldn’t stop trying to yell over each other, each wanting to get their words in first. Your compromise was to make them stop, and you determined who spoke when. It turned out that they were actually on the same page and agreed about their subject. What a waste of time.  


About an hour or two after noon, your phone buzzed quietly in your lap, giving you a slight start. Everything was dead quiet in the room, so you weren’t expecting the ‘bzz-bzz’ from your device. You check the notification quickly and smile to yourself. James was texting to confirm your dinner date with him. You shot him a quick reply, also sending him the details that he needed. You even offered to pick him up, but he declined that. Once he was pleased with the transfer of information, you got back to work and the rest of the day was easy.  


After work, you cleaned up your desk and bid farewell to your coworkers, trying to get home as quickly as you could so you could change and prepare for your date with James. It was semi-formal, so you had to pick something nice, but not overly fancy. You had a lot of stuff like that, though, since your work area was also considered semi-formal. You picked out a dark red dress that went just past your thighs, smoothing it over your body with a pleased grin. You then focused on your hair for some time, then applied some lip colour and eye shadow. The shoes you chose weren’t necessarily heels, but they didn’t sit flat on the floor, either. They added maybe an inch and a half to your height, hardly noticeably.  


You gathered your things, including your phone and wallet, checking to make sure you had your licence and ID before leaving your apartment with a happy smile. You didn’t intend on drinking, but just in case you got a little bit of wine or something you would be able to prove your legality. You hopped into your car, started up the engine, checked the time, and then started off towards the restaurant. On the way, you listened to the radio and hummed along peacefully. In general, the day has been pretty good.  


Not only that, but you and James had decided ahead of time that you would foot the bill for today. James had seemed reluctant, but in the end he agreed to keep it even in terms of who paid when and what bill. You wouldn’t call yourself rich, but you don’t exactly spend much money on yourself, so you’re happy to finally have a use for it all. If nothing else, at least you can say that it’s not a waste, since you’re paying for your own stuff, too. You pick a spot in the parking lot of the restaurant, take a quick picture of the place and save it to your phone, and then head towards the restaurant. You told James that he could just go inside and wait at the table if he got there early, and idly wondered if you’d see him there when you got inside, or if you’d be the one waiting.  


At the front, you informed the nice lady of your reservation, and she gracefully led you to your table, where the one and only James Haywood sat patiently. He smiled at you upon being alerted of your presence, and you noticed his fingers splayed on the table, which had been tapping mindlessly prior to your arrival. You placed your hand on his briefly as a way of greeting him in a friendly manner, and sat across from him. “Hey, James,” you say, tilting your head a little. “How long have you been waiting?”  


You notice that he’s been toying with his tie, lifting an eyebrow slightly but not mentioning it, finding the look adorable on him. He shrugs a little, and you watch his hands shift up to his tie and twist it slightly, messing with the loop around his collar. “Eh, not long.” He pauses, then tilts his head back and forth, thinking a little more on it. “Okay, maybe I got here a little early. The couple before us was still here.” He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, his face turning a soft shade of red. You laugh quietly and shake your head a little. “Are you that excited to see me, James?” you ask softly. He shrugs and nods. “Maybe a little,” he replies.  


The two of you are waited on by a polite male who smiles a lot and actually seemed pretty happy to be in his position. You wondered if either he was a really good actor, or if the restaurant was actually a decent place to work at. Most restaurant wages suck, and waiters and waitresses legitimately lived off of tips. You thought about his cheeriness whenever he came around, and eventually voiced your opinion to James, who shrugged and agreed, but not completely. The topic eventually switches, and then changes again after a few minutes.  


The two of you talk endlessly. Past lives, past relationships- James learns that you’ve never actually been in a relationship, and you learn that, at one point, some very lucky and very stupid woman was married to, and left, James Haywood. You were very interested in the story, but you could tell that it was a sore spot so you left it go for another time. Conversations continued, and you learned quite a bit about James, though he seemed to learn much, much more about you. You didn’t mind, since most of the people you knew were relatively closed off, and you always have had a habit of over-sharing.  


Eventually, the night is coming to a near end, and you’re starting to notice the waiters and waitresses all looking at the two of you, trying to figure out when you’ll leave. You suppose that it has been an awful long time, so you propose paying and leaving before you make the staffs’ lives any more difficult than they already are. James agrees, and you pay and leave a generous tip, proceeding to leave with bright thoughts. You’re about to say your goodbyes to James for the night when he stops you, and you tilt your head slightly in confusion.  


He starts to look nervous again, so you give him an encouraging nod, smiling softly at him. “(Y/n), we’ve been on a few dates now, and we’ve been talking a lot both in person and over text… I, uh… I think I really like you, and I was wondering if, maybe you’d, um, like to be my girlfriend..?” Your eyes widen and you blush brightly, glancing around for a moment before nodding a little. “I- I think I really like you, too, James… I’d… I’m happy to be your girlfriend.” He smiles brightly, hugging you tightly. “Great! I guess I’ll see you again soon, since now I have an excuse!” He laughs cheerfully, and you bid each other your farewells before heading your separate ways.  


You can’t stop thinking about your new relationship the whole way back to your apartment. The whole idea is just so foreign to you, and you can’t believe James picked you. Of all the people in Los Santos, he chose you. It makes you happy, so happy, but you’re also so scared to mess it up. You’ve never been in a relationship before. You’ve never even had any one night stands- nothing. You have no experience whatsoever. As you get back to your flat and do your routine, you wipe the makeup off your face and pull your hair down so that you can just go to bed right away. You find a goodnight text already waiting for you, and send him a reply before setting your phone aside and falling asleep, where you dream peacefully and happily.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a big timeskip. You've been warned.

It’s been a little bit over a year with James. It’s been the best time of your life. Everything just keeps getting better and better every moment that you spend with James Haywood in your life. Not a day goes by where you aren’t in contact with the man in some way, shape or form. You adore him, and you know he adores you, and everything has been going smoothly and happily since the day he asked you to be his girlfriend.  


You had nothing to complain about the man. He was gorgeous and well-kept, and his air of superiority was never too overwhelming. The days you spent with him were filled with lots of spoils and affection. Generally, he was the perfect guy. The only issue you had with him, really, was how little he seemed to tell you. Every other week, he would disappear every night for days in a row, and then the following morning on the last day, he would have random cuts and bruises all over his face and body. You thought that maybe the parties his family hosted were just a bit rough and rowdy, so you never said much about it, but he’d get super sketchy whenever you outright asked about it.  


On this particular evening, you were finishing a night out at the park with James when he got a text and frowned deeply. Having been seeing him for over a year already, you knew what that look meant and sighed quietly. “It’s okay. I’ll get home safely on my own, James, I promise,” you say, trying to hide the disappointment. He nodded a little and gave you a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek before waving goodbye and hurrying away to his car.  


You knew you didn’t have to worry about there being another woman in his life. If you ever asked or doubted James, he could usually tell, and always showed you the messages if he felt it was necessary. You also never snooped around behind his back, and he showed you the same respect. If you were worried, you talked to him about it, and vice versa. Everything was going great.  


You got into your car and checked the time, humming quietly. You knew better than to stop anywhere this late at night, but as you started your car, your stomach growled softly. You wanted to stay patient and wait until you got home, but your hunger started distracting you from driving so you pulled into the nearest gas station and shut the engine off. You glanced at your phone again. 11:38pm. The late nights together were common between you and James. He kept you safe and usually took you home, so you never worried about the time when you were with him. This was the first time you were alone this late at night in a long time.  


Shaking your head, you got out of the car and made your way into the store, browsing quietly. Your mind vaguely registered the sound of a large vehicle pulling into the parking lot, but you related it to a van, and figured that maybe a traveling family was making a quick stop. Something in your gut tightened slightly, however, so you subtly moved out of sight of the door and pretended to continue browsing from there, looking for something quick to eat in your car to hold you off until you got home.  


Rather suddenly, the front door to the station is opened, immediately followed by, “Put your hands in the air, motherfucker.” The clerk gasps and raises his hands quickly, visible just barely from where you stood. “That’s right, bitch. Gimme all the money, and make it quick. We got other places to be,” the voice continues. It’s hard to describe the voice other than being male. He sounds rather young, but his voice is deep enough to know that he’s gotten through his 20s. “Mi- uh, Mogar- good Lord that’s a silly name- is it really necessary to be so aggressive with the gun?” A slightly higher voice quipped, with a slight British accent. “Shut up, Vav. You know intimidation causes them to move faster, dumbass.”  


There’s silence for a while, and then gunshots ring throughout the store, and the clerk screams, immediately followed by a thud. You drop to the floor with a quick gasp, covering your head. A third voice suddenly pipes up, “Have we checked the store yet for any people?” The chillingly familiar voice causes the hairs on your neck to rise, and your eyes widen. You stand up quietly, poking your head around. “James..?” You ask quietly, not even trying to hide your shock, mixed with fear and sadness.  


The first man, supposedly named Mogar, turns around quickly and aims his gun at your face. “What the fuck! How long have you been here? And how the fuck does she know you? Do you know this chick, Ryan??” Mogar’s face is hidden by a mask, strangely shaped to resemble an animated bear, while the other two aren’t masked but rather have tinted sunglasses and face paint to hide their identities. Ryan turns and looks at you, and you know that there’s no mistaking the ice blue of James’ eyes. His response to Mogar causes more pain, however.  


“What? This girl? No. Kill her,” he says coldly, with absolutely no emotion. Despite the lack of expression in his voice, there is no mistaking it as anyone but James Haywood. The man you’ve been spending the last year and three months with in a more than friendly manner. Mogar glances at James, and then shrugs, lifting his gun again. Suddenly, the man in sunglasses raises his hands quickly. “Well now hold on just a minute! Do we really need to take it that far? She’s just a girl! Maybe we can make some other use of her,” the Brit tries desperately. He seems panicked and concerned, like this had never occurred before. When nobody says anything, he tries again. “Maybe we can take her as a hostage or something, keep her with us for future heists?”  


Mogar looks Vav, then back to you, and seems to give the idea a bit of thought. “What do you think, Alpha One? We’ve got a girl in the store. Vav wants to take her and keep her as a hostage. Yay or nay?” He asks out loud, talking to seemingly nothing. Suddenly, a voice picks up. “Man, I don’t fuckin’ care. Whatever gets us the goddamn money.” Mogar nods. “Alright then, little lady, you’re comin’ with us,” he says, his attention turning to you. You barely register his words, trying to figure out the emotion in James’ eyes as he stares at you blankly. He comes around behind you and jabs your back with the barrel of his gun, and you glance back at him, hesitating before sighing in defeat.  


The men lead you to their vehicle, and you all climb in, yourself squished between Mogar and Vav. The woman driving the van glances at you in curiosity from the rearview mirror, but doesn’t question. You notice an ATV off to the side of the van, painted in a strange combination of purple and orange. You finally make the connection in your brain, and the realisation of the group that you’re with causes you to nearly pass out. “Y-You guys are the Fakes…,” you say softly, glancing around. “Yep, that’s us. Now shut up and find something to hold onto that isn’t one of us. This is going to be one hell of a ride since you had to come along and fuck up all of our timing,” Mogar says from your right. Vav sits to your left, and on the other side of Vav is the Vagabond.  


In the driver’s seat is who you can only guess to be the unknown female voice from all the reports, and then in the front passenger’s seat is the unknown male voice. The van suddenly picks up speed and the six of you are jostled around in your seats, various screams coming from each of the men, except James. “Sorry, guys, the cops are right on our asses. Had to get away,” the woman calls over the roar of gunshots, sirens and wind. A voice comes in over the radio, “We got choppers coming in! Let’s try to hurry this along!”  


The drive only gets worse, explosions coming from every direction as shouts and commands are given by each of the different members of the Fakes. Eventually, it all becomes too much for you to handle, and you pass out, your brain completely shutting off. Your body goes limp, completely unnoticed by everyone around you.

When you finally come to, you’re met with the concerned expression of Vav and the sound of arguing coming from your right. It actually surprises you, how much calmer everything seems to be. “Hey, guys! She’s finally awake!” Vav calls out to the others. The arguing immediately stops, and the men all crowd around you, plus the woman. Vav helps you into a sitting position, and you rub the back of your head slowly, blinking up at everyone. “So, Ryan,” Mogar looks at James, who has since taken off his face paint, making you wonder how long you’ve been unconscious. “How does she know your first name, hm?”  


“Yea, Rye-bread. You told us that everyone you know calls you Ryan,” Vav quips. James glares at Vav, then sighs heavily. “Believe it or not, Michael and Gavin, I have a life outside of our heists. Everyone at my job calls me James _or_ Ryan, and anyone outside of you guys or my job knows me as James. This is (Y/n). She’s my… uh… She’s my girlfriend.” Various expressions of shock and praise erupt from each of the men. Michael, however, is not impressed. “She’s your fucking girlfriend and you told me to kill her??? What, did you just _hope_ that Gavin would be too much of a little bitch to watch her die? What the hell, man, you could’ve just _said_ something!”  


James shrugs, glancing at you and then glancing away. You feel a mix of hurt and anger every time you look at him; every time the others call him Ryan. The shock that you’re in only makes it worse. You’ve spent the last year falling for the cruel, heartless killer that is the Vagabond. How could you have been such a fool? You were angry at him for keeping this all hidden, and you were angry at yourself for thinking such secrecy was normal. The unnamed woman seems to take note of your internal conflict and reaches out gently. “(Y/n), are you alright? Do you want some water?” You glance at her, then shrug. “I’ll go get some water for you. This is probably a lot to take in. You’re no Lindsay, after all.” She smiles and walks away, and you stare down at your lap in silence.  


Everybody seems to have stopped and turned to stare at you, just watching you in the heavy quiet that coats the room. The woman returns and frowns at the scene. “Come on, guys, leave her alone. She’s probably going through a lot of shit right now,” she says. Michael glances at her, then nods. “Jack’s right. We should leave (Y/n) to talk about this with Ryan. Geoff, Gavin, let’s go play some games or some shit.” Jack brings you the glass of water and sets it beside you as the three men leave the room. She then follows the others out, leaving you with James.  


You look up at him finally, and visibly see his walls come crashing down as he relaxes in your sole presence. “I guess you’re pretty angry, huh..?” he says quietly. He bites his lip softly, then takes a deep breath. “I thought… I thought you’d leave me if I told you… I didn’t think you’d ever find out…” You stare at him, holding eye contact for a long time. “You were right. I am leaving you, James. I- I can’t love a killer… That- It’d be crazy… You wanted to kill me! I- I’m sorry, James Haywood. I can’t be with you anymore.”  


You see his eyes flash with anger and he comes up close to you, getting in your face. “You can’t leave me, (Y/n). You can’t leave, ever. You know where we are. I know where you’ll go. You know who I am, and I know who you are. You can’t leave me. And you can’t leave this place, (Y/n). Because you either stay here with us, with me, or you leave the world entirely. There is no more ‘normal life’ for you, now that you know who the Fakes are. You’re stuck. And if you ever wish for freedom, well…” He looks around briefly, and a knife is suddenly held to your throat. “It’s only a bullet, only a knife, away.”  


You want to cry. You want to scream, to call for help. You want to tell him he’s wrong, to tell him that death isn’t the only way to escape… But he’s not wrong. He knows where you live, he knows where your family lives, he knows where you work, and clearly the Fakes know how to avoid the police… There was nothing you could do. You were trapped. All your precaution turned out to be for naught. The one man you felt safe around turned out to be Los Santos’ most well-known criminal.  


You felt your heart shatter, and your resolve crumbled until there was nothing left. James watched the fire in your eyes die down to nothing, and then released you and backed away, throwing the knife and nodding as it stabbed the wall and remained there. “This is home, now, my dear. Give us a chance. We’re not so bad, I promise,” he says, smiling a little and leaving the room. You reach for the glass of water and take a small sip before setting it down and going back to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

You open your eyes slowly, blinking and staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling. Your brain panics for a moment, but soon everything comes back to you and you remember the events of the previous night. Your boyfriend is a crazy, possessive murderer with a group of friends that have been terrorising Los Santos for as long as you’ve lived here. You sigh softly, looking around a little. You hadn’t even noticed that you were no longer on the couch you passed out on, but instead in a lavish room complete with a walk-in closet and your very own bathroom.  


Getting up and approaching your closet, you open it slowly to reveal that all of your clothes had been retrieved and you had some new outfits, too. You look around slowly and find some boxes in the back, packed with all of your things from your apartment. You frown, knowing that they had to get into your apartment somehow in order to get all this stuff. The idea gives you the creeps, and you leave your closet without grabbing any new clothes.  


You walk towards your bedroom door, hearing screams of laughter and anger from somewhere else in the building. With your hand on the knob, you debate leaving your room before deciding there was nothing to lose, even if everyone knew you were awake. You open your door and peek out, looking up and down the hallway of doors before deciding to follow the voices. You pull your door shut behind you and make your way down the hall. When you’re the closest you can be to the room with the voices, you hesitate. The door is closed. What if it’s a bedroom? But that wouldn’t make sense, it sounds like there are at least four people in there, and one of them is Jack.  


You crack open the door and lean your head in to see the room, sighing in relief when you see that it’s just the main room where you initially fell asleep. You step in and look around, waiting with bated breath to see if any of them notices you. In the room, Jeremy and Jack crowd behind Michael and Gavin, who are playing an intense round of some shooter game, and Michael is clearly getting pissed at Gavin’s inability to properly play games. A short look around by Jeremy ends up in, “Hey! (Y/n), it’s about time. How are you feeling? Does your head hurt? Do you need water? You saw that we brought your stuff, right?”  


You shift your weight awkwardly, nodding a little. “Um.. What time is it..? I think I lost my phone..,” you ask softly. Michael pauses the game and the other three look at you. None of them move, but then Jack answers, “The time is currently 1:53 P.M.” Your eyes widen and you cover your mouth quickly. “Oh my God, I am so late for work!” You turn around quickly to head back to your room, but Gavin’s voice stops you short. “Hey, relax, it’s fine. You don’t have to worry about working. We can cover for you, (Y/n). It’ll be fine. We’ll get you a new phone, too,” he assures, smiling brightly. Michael glares at the Brit before nodding. “Yeah, none of us here ever really work. We just wait for whenever one of us comes up with a new heist. Our achievements have gotten us quite far in life,” he says.  


You hesitate, but nod. James wouldn’t be too happy to know that you exited the building anyway, you’re certain. “What about Ja- I mean… Ryan? He works… He has an office job,” you question, tilting your head a little. Jeremy shrugs. “He says it makes him feel better to be contributing to society more than he takes from it. Plus, it brings in some extra money when we fail any of our robberies. We never really questioned him or stopped him from doing whatever he wants. He’s a little..,” he trails off and makes a circular motion at the side of his head with his index finger. You nod slowly. “But hey!” Jeremy says cheerfully. “C’mon over, take a seat. Or, Jack can show you where the kitchen is and help you get something to eat. Anyone who can change Ryan’s cold, dead heart is always welcome here.” He smiles at you brightly, welcoming you over. You glance at Jack for a moment, then hesitate. “Actually, I think something to eat sounds more appealing… no offense,” you say softly.  


“Hey, none taken. Jack, can you take her to the kitchen?” Jeremy looks at Jack, and you can see Jeremy begging her silently to just do what he says for once. You can tell nobody really listens to Jeremy much. “Eh, sure, why not,” she says. “Come on, (Y/n). I’ll even show you a couple of other rooms on the way.” She leads you through a separate door that goes immediately into another room. There are multiple other doors within the room, and she points out each of them, labeling them with silly names, even though most are just closets or one or bathrooms, presumably to make you feel more comfortable. “This last room on the left is the meeting room. It’s where we go to make all our dumb plans and shit. It’s just a small closet with a table, some chairs, and a map of the city on a whiteboard on the wall. Nothin’ special.” She shrugs a little, smiling. “We might be the most infamous group in Los Santos, but we’re not over the top with our building. Those huge conference rooms don’t make sense when it’s just the six of us.”  


You nod a little, and at the end of the room, there's another door that leads into the kitchen. She points out the important cabinets and drawers, like where the dishes are, where the cups are, and where the cutlery is. She also explains elaborately that absolutely no food stealing is tolerated and physical fights will break out over food. Jack is generally polite and doesn’t raise her voice or patronize you. She’s really nice, and you find yourself relaxed in her presence. She sits you down, and asks, “so, what would you like to eat?”  


You debate your choices for a while, and let her know when you’ve made a decision. She helps you find all the necessary materials to make your food, and then lets you handle the rest on your own. “You seem like a smart girl, (Y/n). If you get along with Ryan, you’ll get along just fine with the rest of us. We’re not so bad if you just give us a chance. I’ll be in the main room with the boys. If you need something, don’t be afraid to ask.” You nod and give her a grateful smile, and she waves as she leaves the kitchen.  


A few minutes pass and you’re eating your food when another woman swoops into the room gracefully, and pauses immediately, looking at you curiously. “Uh… Hi!” she offers, tilting her head a little. You take note that her hair is a beautiful, bright red, and stare for a moment before offering a small wave. “And who might you be?” She approaches you with a friendly smile. “I’ve never seen you before. I just got here, haha. Just visiting the boys.” She seems unphased after a few moments of silence, waiting patiently for you to answer, her smile never wavering.  


Finally, you greet her, “I’m (Y/n). I guess I live here now… Technically I’m a hostage, I think..? But everybody is nice to me because I’m J-... Ryan’s girlfriend.” Her eyebrows raise and her expression turns to one of being impressed. “Ryan’s got a girlfriend finally, huh? You seem sweet. Good on him for finally moving on. Welcome to the family, (Y/n),” she says, patting you on the head. “Uh… Thanks… If you don’t mind me asking, how do you know these guys..? I’ve never seen you on the news..,” you question awkwardly. She laughs softly. “Oh, there’s a couple of us that do behind the scenes work. Me, Matt and Alfredo don’t really do much in the heists, so we’re never reported on. I’m Lindsay Jones, Michael’s wife,” she introduces. “Well, don’t mind me. Just getting something to eat.”  


You nod, and she rummages around in the kitchen for a bit before heading out with a, “bye now!” before you’re alone again. You finish your food in silence, dwelling on the new information. Michael has a wife? He seems so loud and… mean. You hum softly, remembering your own place with being the girlfriend of a murderer, supposing that you don’t really have much room to talk. Then again, Lindsay knows what Michael does and doesn’t seem to care even a little. She seems to even take part in their crimes… You idly wondered if you could someday be like Lindsay for the Fakes. That would be impossible, though. The Fakes might be nice to you, but they probably don’t trust you nearly enough to think you won’t rat them out. You sigh softly, remembering Ryan’s words.  


Thinking about Ryan has you questioning whether you’re actually still his girlfriend. Even if you can’t leave, you don’t _have_ to be his girlfriend, do you..? But… On the flip side, what’s stopping them from murdering you if you’re not somehow related to any of the members..? You frown, deciding it was best for your life’s sake to continue considering yourself Ryan’s girlfriend. Who knows, maybe nothing more about your relationship will change… You basically know everything, now, after all. You finish eating and head back to the main room, where Lindsay sits beside Michael, where Gavin used to be, and is now the one co-oping with the angry man. Jeremy, Gavin and Jack stand behind the two, watching them intensely.  


“Hey, guys,” you greet, deciding confidence was the best approach. You stand behind Jeremy and Jack, feeling the safest between those two with Gavin nearby too. You watch them switch places as they game, talking about different things and arguing over their random bouts of incompetence. You even laugh a few times, feeling pretty okay. At some point, Geoff joins and plays a couple games, too. The air is light and full of happiness and fun for almost the entire day, so everyone is confused when you suddenly go quiet and try to hide upon noticing Ryan come in. See, typically, everybody just goes on with their business when Ryan enters with his scary, dark aura. They had kind of forgotten that you weren’t used to that side of him.  


Ryan glances at you briefly while he takes off his jacket, then promptly walks up to you, hugs you tightly, and then leaves the room. Not a word is said by anybody until Ryan is gone and you feel like you can breathe again. It’s Lindsay who ends up breaking the silence first. “Girl, there is nothing to be afraid of here. We all like you just fine. Ryan’s a bit scary, we know, but he’s still just a man and we can tell he likes you very much. You got nothing to be scared of, little lady. Just talk to him. You’ll see. You’ll understand.” She rests her hand on your shoulder comfortingly, and leans her head on Michael’s shoulder, smiling at him lovingly. You sigh, and you can’t help but feel that she’s right. You’ve never been afraid of him before. Why has it suddenly changed? Because he kills to cover his and his teams’ backs? If they don’t kill the witnesses, you never would have met James Ryan Haywood.  


You nod a little, and decide to yourself that you’ll find him and talk to him in the morning. “Well… It was nice getting to know you guys,” you say, getting up and starting towards the door. “Thanks for the advice, Lindsay. I’ll think about it. I’m gonna head to my room for a while.” They all wave, and then resume their games and conversations. You head to your room, spotting a figure leaning against your door. As you approach, it becomes clearer that Ryan is waiting for you.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> because there's a sensitive subject the chapter is pretty much the reader and ryan uh... interacting. ryan leaves and the reader goes to sleep. She wakes up in the middle of the night, shares some snacks and words with michael, and then goes to Ryan's room and snuggles with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey trigger warning there's an almost rape scene here but im a pussy and didn't actually write it but i know for some people it's triggering to just have it mentioned so ye

You pause in your movements, hesitating getting any closer to Ryan. You even debate turning around and going back to the others. Unfortunately, however, Ryan has already noticed you and is watching you closely with expectant eyes. You take a deep breath and close your eyes, forcing yourself to calm down at least somewhat so that you can approach Ryan with some semblance of confidence. You stop right in front of him and look up, making eye contact and keeping your face as blank as you can.  


“Do you need something, Ryan? I’m tired. I want to go to bed,” you manage, putting your hands on your hips and setting your feet apart in an attempt to subtly set yourself into a power stance. He frowns and looks you up and down, raising an eyebrow slightly. “I just want to talk, (Y/n),” he says finally. “I didn’t want to enter your room without permission, so I waited here for you. I want to apologise… To try and make things right.” You sigh softly and shake your head a little.  


“You told Michael to _kill_ me, Ryan. Most people don’t exactly come back from something like that.” He sighs heavily and hangs his head. “I know. I don’t know what I was thinking. I wanted to keep the lie up, but at the same time I knew that even if I spilled everything, I would lose the best thing in my life… Whether you lived and left me, or died and left me, I’d still lose you… I guess I just figured to get it over with… Fortunately, or unfortunately, Gavin stepped in… And now here we are, suffering.” You can’t say anything. You can’t deny it. He’s right. Whether he told Michael to kill you, or confessed everything, you would have left him regardless. He came to a lose-lose situation, and tried to save himself. You sigh softly, going over his explanation. After a few moments, you nod a little.  


“Yeah. You’re right, Ryan. You lose the best thing in your life either way. Now get out of my way, I’m going to bed,” you finalize. You see Ryan physically deflate, and your heart reaches out to him, but you force yourself to stay strong. He takes a deep breath and steps out of the way, and you open your door and go into your room without a word. Without warning, he catches your wrist and steps into your room with you, closing the door behind the two of you. He says nothing, but you can see in his eyes that Ryan is gone, and you’re dealing with The Vagabond now. You stand your ground and pull your arm away from him, but his grip holds fast. “Let me go,” you say, fear causing your voice to rise.  


“No,” he says, his jaw tensing slightly. His eyes soften briefly and he says, “I can’t. I can’t lose you too.” But the softness is gone a second later, and he pulls you close and wraps his other arm around your waist, forcing you to stay pressed against him. “You’re mine, (Y/n). You can’t leave. I won’t let you.” He takes a couple steps, pushing your legs with his own to make you move backwards. A few steps later, and the two of you collapse onto your bed, and he pins you down. “Ryan, no. Let me go. Leave my room,” you say sternly, though you can’t feel anything but fear. “No,” he says flatly, pressing his lips against yours. You shake your head and separate your lips, but all he does in response is move to hold both your wrists with one hand, and hold your head in place with the newly freed hand. He kisses you again, his eyes boring holes into your skull with how fierce his expression is.  


You close your eyes tightly and bite his lip harshly, and he pulls back, growling lowly. “Stop resisting!” he says, his cold, blue eyes glaring daggers at you as he licks his lip gingerly. You see his eyes flash briefly, but it’s enough to give you the hope to put a halt to the Vagabond’s advances. “Ryan, please, stop. This is wrong. You can’t force me to love you. That’s not how this works,” you try, begging him with your eyes to stop. His eyes remain cold, however. “I can make you do whatever the hell I want. Just stay fucking still, dammit.” His grip tightens on your wrists and he releases your head briefly to move one hand to his belt. Your eyes widen in realisation and you start wiggling violently. He stops for a moment, staring down at you blankly and it takes you a moment to realise why. You realise your cheeks are wet, and quickly look away, cursing yourself for having weak emotional capability.  


His grip on you releases entirely and he gets off of you, moving to sit on the edge of your bed. You sit up slowly and rub your wrists softly before rubbing the tears away, sniffling softly. “Ryan..?” You reach out to touch his shoulder softly, but he shrugs your hand off. “Don’t, (Y/n). I’m a monster… Ever since-... Ever since Laurie left, I-... A part of me went with her… I thought she was the one, and when I learned she wasn’t, and she walked away, I turned to the Fakes… They’ve seen me at my worst, and yet they still accepted me… And realising that not everyone is like the boys and Jack is difficult…” You sigh quietly and move to sit next to him, humming softly.  


“I shouldn’t forgive you, Ryan. You lied to me about your criminal lifestyle, you told Michael to kill me, you threatened to kill me yourself, and you did just almost rape me…” He visibly winces at your words, bowing his head and folding his hands in his lap. He sighs softly and goes to stand up, but you catch his hand softly. “However… I spent some time with Lindsay and the others today… And you were right. They are really great people. I’ve just been afraid this whole time, since you guys kill other, innocent people… And Lindsay and Michael seem so happy together… I want to be like them, Ryan… I don’t want to be afraid of you, even when you’re more like the Vagabond than Ryan Haywood… I want to be happy with you… And I’m willing to try again, if that’s what you want… It’ll just take a bit of getting used to…”  


He nods a little and pulls his hand away. “That’s great, (Y/n)... But I think I need a bit of time on my own to think about myself and my actions towards you… I’ll let you know when I think I’m ready to be around you again…,” he says softly, avoiding meeting your eyes. Neither of you say anything for a moment, and he takes the time to walk towards your door, sighing quietly. “I really like you, (Y/n). If I weren’t so fucked up in the head, maybe I could say I love you. But I don’t know, honestly. Maybe that’s just the Vagabond speaking, making excuses for us not to separate,” he mumbles quietly before exiting your room. You fall back on your bed and stare at the ceiling for a long while before sleep overcomes you and you pass out.

You wake up in the middle of the night, squinting in the darkness as you wait for your eyes to adjust. You look around for a few moments before sighing and getting up from bed, your stomach growling softly. Your heart thumps softly in your chest as you approach your door slowly, keeping your weight evenly balanced so that your footsteps are soft and make minimal noise. You slowly turn the knob and pull the door open, then peek your head out into the hallway, looking around slowly and blinking into the darkness. With a sigh, you let out the breath you were holding and leave your room, shutting the door softly behind yourself.  


You walk yourself down the hallway and to the door that goes into the main room, and you can just barely hear the clicking and hushed curses of someone getting their late-night gaming rounds in. You poke your head into the room, finding Michael sitting on the couch in front of the T.V., turning his body and shifting himself left and right in frustration as he tries to beat the level of the game he’s playing. You step into the room and approach the couch slowly, resting your hands on the back of the chair and leaning forward a bit. You watch for a bit, and then ask him softly, “Hey, Mikey, what’re you up to?” Clearly he had not been aware of your existence until just then, because he quite literally jumps out of the seat, the controller flying out of his hands as he swears quietly, “Jesus Christ, (Y/n), what the fuck! You scared the ever loving shit out of me!”  


You smile sheepishly and shrug a little. “Sorry, Michael. Didn’t mean to scare you. Is the controller okay?” You point towards the object on the floor, and then look at his character as it rapidly spins in circles. “Yeah, the controller is fine. It’s experienced worse. What are you doing? I thought you were asleep?” He tilts his head a bit and frowns a little as he checks over the electronic before pausing his game. “Ah, well, I guess old habits die hard… Back in my apartment I woke up almost every night because of midnight munchies…,” you admit softly, rubbing your neck a little. “Oh, ha. Is that like, a girl thing? Lindsay wakes me up sometimes requesting something to eat ‘cause she wakes up and is too tired to get up. Uh, here! I have some gummy bears and worms if you want some? There’s some chips over there, too, but I don’t know how good they’ll be. Geoff and Gavin get weird flavours sometimes.” He offers you a bowl of gummies and points out the bag of chips, before settling back down on the couch.  


You smile a little and walk around the couch with the bowl of gummies, sitting down beside Michael as he resumes his game. For the most part, you quietly watch him play while you share the gummies with Michael, smiling and occasionally cheering him on as he wins each level and just in general feeling a sense of peace and calm in the room. Despite the fact that he can be pretty angry sometimes, and the fact that he almost killed you, you could tell that he was a good person, and that Lindsay had picked a good man.  


Speaking of him nearly murdering you, you glance him briefly, then mumble, “Michael?” He glances at you questioningly, then answers, “yeah?” You hesitate for a moment, sighing softly. “Would you have really killed me the other night if Gavin hadn’t stepped in?” you ask finally. He snorts and shakes his head a bit. “Nah, you’re just a girl. Plus, after spending so long as one of Ryan’s closest friends, we all knew he was lying when he said he didn’t know you. The worst that would’ve happened might have been you getting shot in the shoulder or something, honestly. I wouldn’t have killed you, don’t worry.”  


You nod a little, feeling pretty satisfied with the answer. “Speaking of Ryan,” he says suddenly, “did you guys talk? Lindsay raised a fair point.” You sigh softly, then nod again. “Yeah, I was going to wait until he came back from work tomorrow, but he was waiting outside my door when I got to my room… I think we figured something out, but I’m not sure…” He glances at you again, then pauses his game and pats your shoulder lightly. “Hey, don’t sweat it, (Y/n). You guys clearly care about each other, I’m sure you’ll both make it out of this together and perfectly fine. And as for him waiting outside your door, it makes sense why he had you put in that room.” You look up at Michael in confusion. “Oh, yeah, he put you in that room yesterday morning. He came out hella early and saw you passed out on the couch, picked you up and took you to the room. He told me he was going to go fetch your stuff and bring it back for you, but I had to put it all in your room. When I asked why that room specifically, he said he wanted to keep you as close as possible,” he explains. He shrugs a little. “His room is like, across the hall and two doors further down the hall, if you were wondering.”  


You frown slightly and nod slowly, sighing heavily. “Hey, I wouldn’t worry about him too much tonight. You did what you could, I’m sure. If your stomach is happy with your midnight snack, then you should probably go back and try and get some more sleep. I’ll be heading to bed with Lindsay shortly, too. I’m sure she’s been wondering where I am.” You nod again and get up, setting the bowl down beside Michael and giving him a small smile. “Thanks for the gummies, Michael. And the talk, too. Goodnight,” you say quietly. He waves you off idly, resuming his game again. “Ah, don’t worry about it, (Y/n). Believe it or not, we’ve all been the newbie here at one point or another. Especially Jeremy.” He shakes his head and chuckles softly. “Goodnight, (Y/n),” he bids.  


You leave the room and head back down the hall, pausing when you reach your bedroom door and looking just a bit further down the hall. Two doors down and to your right, there’s a door with multiple holes and a couple of scrawled letters written, spelling out, “BM VAGABOND”. You question how you never noticed that before, then tiptoe your way to the door, testing the knob. You fully expected it to be locked, so you’re surprised when the knob turns with ease and gently swings inward a bit. You poke your head into Ryan’s room, looking around and taking note of how empty it is. Without really thinking about your actions much, you enter Ryan’s room and close the door behind you, approaching Ryan’s bed and kneeling beside the mattress. You stare at him as he sleeps, comforted by how peaceful he looks. Carefully, and almost against your better judgement, you climb into his bed and curl up beside him on his blankets, nuzzling into his chest and hugging him tightly. Despite your previous fear, it seems like everything is okay and normal again, and you fall asleep quickly beside Ryan.


	7. Chapter 7

You wake up early in the morning, blinking your eyes open tiredly and looking around the room. Your tired eyes and exhausted mind take longer than usual to adjust, but when you do, you’re not surprised to find yourself in your own room, laying on your own bed, under your own blankets. You sigh softly, throwing the blankets off of yourself and shuffling towards your closet, going through for a new set of clothes and then heading towards the bathroom to take a much needed shower.  


You can’t help but feel an odd sense of disappointment in being in your own room. When you climbed into Ryan’s bed, you knew deep inside that he wouldn’t let you stay there, but you still had some hope. You supposed that maybe he was still mad, or maybe he really didn’t want anything to do with you… You sighed softly to yourself and finished your shower as quickly as you could, since you weren’t sure about water usage for the boys.  


You hop out of the shower and get dressed, putting your hair up in a bun and looking at yourself in the full body mirror. With a small shrug at your appearance, you leave your room and head towards the main room. You immediately note that it’s oddly quiet, furrowing your eyebrows. You open the door and poke your head into the room, immediately confused again by the lack of people. You enter the room and look around slowly, wondering if maybe they were still sleeping, or if they had gone out drinking or something. You continued into the room with all the other doors that Jack guided you past, and finally reached a door where you hear voices.  


You stop, remembering it as the one Jack pointed out to you as their meeting room and listen for a second. “And then we can take a boat and head out to sea for a bit, try to get to open waters and lose the cops. Sound like a plan?” You frown as you realise that they were already planning another heist. Now that you know why Ryan kept disappearing every other week, it basically kills any real reason to doubt his devotion to you. You keep moving, heading into the kitchen and looking around a bit, stumbling upon some alcohol and debating it briefly.  


You decide against it, putting it away and getting yourself something to eat, memorising the location just in case. Jack enters the kitchen a few minutes later and says hello, followed by Gavin and then Ryan. As expected, Ryan ignores your entire presence, like you’re not even there. You don’t wait for anyone else to enter the kitchen, finishing as quickly as you can and exiting the room. You stop briefly in the main room, watching Michael set up the system with Jeremy before moving on quietly, back to your own bedroom.  


Actually spending more time in your room allows you to finally notice a small dressing table, with mirrors and makeup and masks, as well as some facepaint. You also find a desk in the corner, with a small stool sat in front of a laptop. You settle down in front of the laptop, opening it up slowly and examining it carefully as it starts up. You’re sure that they’ve restricted some of the things on the device, but at this point you honestly couldn’t care less. You hum and click on the only user account that shows up, discovering the lack of password and humming, noting to yourself that you’ll have to change that.  


You hum quietly to yourself as you set up a couple games on your newly found laptop, discovering that it could hold a lot more stuff than originally anticipated. You glance at the dressing table, wondering idly why the Fakes included it in your room. Did they think you’d need it someday? Doubtful. Maybe it’s just there out of habit. You doubt much about this room has changed at all since you were put in here.  


While looking around and waiting for your laptop to finish with its objective, you spot a little piece of paper on the table. You get up from the desk and pick up the paper carefully, looking at it curiously. You open the small piece of paper, pausing to take a moment and actually register the words on the paper. “Just Blaze!” it says, with a small rose drawn at the bottom. You can’t help but feel a sense of familiarity from the small slip. You set it back down, rubbing your arms as a sudden chill falls upon you. You take a deep breath and look around, realising slowly that there are small pieces of paper with tiny roses all over the place. You decide it’s best to leave the papers alone, returning to your desk.  


While continuing to personalize your laptop, you’re startled back into the real world by a knock on your door. You get up and walk towards the door, opening it a little bit to be met by the grinning expression of Jeremy, holding a small plate of cookies. “Hey, kiddo! Just wanted to check up on you, you’re usually hangin’ out with us at this point in the day. I brought some snacks, in case you’re not feeling well or somethin’ and everyone in the main room says hello!” He offers you the plate eagerly, and you take a cookie or two, munching on one quietly. “Thanks, Jeremy,” you say, smiling a little.  


It makes you feel really good to know that the boys here actually care about you, even if Ryan doesn’t seem to be too happy with you. You reach for another cookie, but pause, glancing back towards your room. “Uh, Jer?” you ask softly. “Yeah, what’s up, (Y/n)?” he responds, tilting his head a bit. “Do you know whose room this was before me?” He frowns a little and nods. “Yeah, it was an old friend’s. He uh… Didn’t make it out of one of the heists..,” he says quietly. You bite your lip softly. “Were, uh… Roses his thing? There’s a bunch of papers all over the room… Did you guys leave them as some sort of memoir or something?” Jeremy looks at you and furrows his eyebrows slightly. “Papers? What do you mean?” He pushes past you and looks around a bit. You feel mildly awkward, but say nothing.  


He shakes his head a little. “We cleaned this place out when he, uh… Passed. What papers are you talking about?” He looks at you. You immediately go towards the dressing table and pick up the little slip of folded paper. You hand it to him and watch him open it. He stares at it for a long time, then sets the plate down on the table and leaves the room with the paper. You watch him go without a word, leaving your door open just in case he returns. He does a few minutes later, with Jack and Gavin, as well as Michael and Geoff. You point out the rest of the small pieces of paper, and watch as grown men gradually begin to break down.  


You sit down and watch them quietly, humming to yourself and just trying to stay out of the way. Jeremy joins you on the bed, sitting beside you and letting out a deep sigh. “They all have a much deeper connection to those papers than you or I ever will. Ray was… one of the OG Fakes. Everybody misses him a lot, even after all this time. I only knew him for a short bit of time. He was a pretty great guy.” You nod a little. After a couple minutes, Geoff regains his composure and takes a deep breath. “Alright, boys, Jack. I’m sure (Y/n) would like her room back. We all miss Ray, but it won’t do us much good to continue to cry over him like a bunch of kids.” He turns your attention towards you, smiling sadly at you. “Thank you, (Y/n). You don’t understand how much this means to us, that you found these,” he says, the raw, genuine emotion making his voice thick. You nod, smiling back.  


The men and Jack all leave the room slowly, the last one out being Jeremy. He pats you on the shoulder, glancing at the cookies and chuckling softly. “Keep the cookies. Just remember to bring the plate back out.” You snort softly. “Yes, sir,” you say playfully, giving him a gentle shove. He raises his hands in surrender, backing up. “Okay, okay, I’m going. Seeya later, (Y/n). Join us whenever you’re ready. We miss your comments.” He winks at you playfully, then heads out, closing the door behind himself. You sigh and relax on your bed, staring at the ceiling. You close your eyes slowly, letting out a deep sigh.

The days that follow go by relatively peacefully. The boys head out together at different times throughout each of the days. They tell you some of their adventures, explaining the difficulty and pressure of making sure everything is set up just right for their Friday night heists. They tell you some stories of their mishaps and grand successes. You sit by and listen, gradually beginning to feel and understand their willingness to accept such lives of crime. They each, individually have their own reasons for it, but they all share one thing in common: they love the excitement.  


Even so, however, there’s still a sense of sadness that you can’t seem to shake. You’ve tried to talk to Lindsay and Michael. You’ve even mentioned something to Jack. But they’ve all said the same thing. They tell you your best chance with Ryan is to just wait out his anger. You can’t help but feel like that won’t get you anywhere, though. The sense of hopelessness has led you to late nights spent drinking and crying, trying desperately to figure out what’s going on.  


You don’t like to drink. You don’t like alcohol, and you don’t like being drunk, but at this point, it’s all you can think to do to get away from all the pain. You can’t for the life of you figure out any way to get Ryan to stop ignoring you, and it’s killing you. The boys are all always so concerned, but they can’t ever say or do much because they’re too busy with setting up for their heists. They’ve asked multiple times about your well-being and mental state, trying to get you to cheer up. They’ve each individually taken you out to nice places to try and make you happy, but nothing has worked.  


You appreciate their efforts. You’re really thankful for their kindness and expressions of concern. You are grateful to finally have people who genuinely care about you. But at this point, all you want is for Ryan to stop ignoring you. It’s been weeks, by this point, and you don’t even know if you’re still a couple anymore. At the end of their second heist without you, while you’re helping Jack and Lindsay patch everybody up and address their injuries, you finally come up with something. You know that Geoff will say no, but you can’t help but feel that it’s your only shot at making Ryan notice you.  


While you’re tending to Geoff, you take a deep breath, looking over him carefully and applying appropriate medications to his burns and scratches. He finally notices your awkwardness and frowns at you deeply. “What’s on your mind, kid?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at you. You shuffle nervously, humming quietly. “I want to assist you guys with the heists,” you finally mumble quietly. He blinks at you a few times, staring at you blankly. “Absolutely not,” he says. “Please, Geoff. I’m tired of being stuck here all day, and I think- I think that if I’m with you guys on the heists, then Ryan won’t be able to ign-” While explaining yourself, Geoff interrupts you. “No. Do you know why? Because you have been just about as unstable as Ryan was when Laurie left. You can’t join us until you’re in a better mindset. And your reason for joining us should not be to make Ryan notice you. He knows what he’s doing. He adores you, (Y/n). Believe me. Just give him some time.”  


You huff in frustration, reluctant to give up. “But I’ve given him so much time, Geoff. It’s been an entire month… I don’t know what to do… I just want him to talk to me again. He doesn’t even have to feel any attraction towards me anymore, I just want him to talk to me… Please. If I’m with you guys, he won’t have any choice but to talk to me again.” Geoff shakes his head slowly. “He’ll find a way to avoid talking to you, (Y/n). Trust me. You’re not joining us.” You sigh and nod a little, backing up slightly. “Okay… Otherwise, your wounds are all accounted for… Just don’t do anything ridiculously physical for a while, you have a pretty nasty looking scratch on your right arm.” He chuckles softly and waves you off. “Yeah, you always tell us to be careful. Thanks, (Y/n).” He gets up and heads off to reconvene with the rest of the guys, and you sit down on the floor, pulling your knees up to your chest and sighing as you sit there idly.  


At some point, you’re quite not sure when, Lindsay comes and pulls you up from the floor, giving you a big hug and helping you to your room. She talks to you comfortingly about a couple of little things that happened throughout the day, but you barely listen to her. You find yourself in your room, on your bed, staring blankly at the ceiling while she pulls the blanket up to your neck. “Hey, kiddo, it’s gonna be alright. We’re all going to be here for you, (Y/n). No matter what. Get some rest. Goodnight,” she finishes quietly, patting your head gently. You mumble, “goodnight,” softly and hear her sigh as she leaves your room. You barely manage to fall asleep, but it happens eventually.


	8. Chapter 8

You wake up slowly, opening your eyes and looking around with a soft sigh. You sit up and pull your hair out of the bun that it’s been in since the previous day, fluffing your hair and exhaling again. Your head is pounding, and you can’t tell if it’s because you’re hungover or if it’s because you’re not. You place a hand on your head, leaning over slightly. A short glance to your right reveals a glass of water with some aspirin beside it. There’s a small note, too.  


You reach for the medication and take it quickly, cringing at the pain it causes to move so fast. You read the note a short moment later, humming quietly. “Figured you’d want this after drinking so much every day.” There’s no signature, so you assume it was Lindsay or Jack. Maybe Jeremy, but probably Lindsay. You lie back down and close your eyes, waiting for the medication to kick in before bothering to do anything. You’ve already taken note of the dead silence throughout the suite, so you figure everyone is sleeping, or they’ve gone out in celebration for their heist.  


You think about your conversation with Geoff, frowning deeply. You’d show him… You can handle yourself… You’ll just make sure to wake up early tomorrow, and listen in on their heist plans… You could do it… You could sneak your way onto the team. And if nobody knows, then nobody can stop you. You nod to yourself, biting your lip softly and getting up finally, heading to your closet. You change into new clothes and put on a bit of perfume, proceeding to the bathroom to brush your teeth. With a new sense of purpose, you’re more motivated to actually take care of yourself.  


You look over yourself in the mirror, then hum quietly. When you leave your room, you see Jeremy exiting his room, too, looking exhausted as hell. You greet him politely, understanding that being too cheery might irritate him. He waves a bit, then gives a big yawn as he stretches. He glances at you, and then pauses and actually looks at you, his eyes immediately brightening. “Hey! Feeling better? We missed you, bud,” he says happily. You give him a small smile. “Yeah… I have an idea, and it’s giving me a new motivation, so…” you trail off, not wanting to give too much away. He nods a little. “That’s great! We’ll all be happy to have you around again,” he says.  


You walk with him to the kitchen, each of you getting your own bowls and getting some cereal, talking quietly. “Hey, Jer?” you ask softly. “Yeah, what’s up, (Y/n)?” He looks at you curiously. “Do you guys have like, a specific room or something where you keep your devices and whatnot? I, uh. I asked Geoff to join you guys on heists, but he said no until I was doing better. In the meantime, though, I want to familiarize myself with the stuff so that I’m not clueless when the time comes.” You smile brightly, trying to seem as innocent as possible. He seems hesitant to tell you, but reveals that they keep their stuff in their rooms. When he sees you frown, he offers to let you borrow some of extra stuff for a bit, with the stern condition that you return it when you’re done with it. You agree quickly, and thank him excitedly.  


“You’re the best, Jer. But shh, don’t tell anyone I said that,” you smile brightly, standing and giving him a quick hug. He waves it off as if it’s nothing, but for you, it means a lot. It’s the first step to being able to participate in their next heist. You finish your breakfast quickly and wave to Jeremy as you head out of the kitchen, humming to yourself happily. When you pass through the main room, you see that Michael, Gavin and Geoff have awoken, and they give you varying expressions of confusion and surprise to see you in such a different mood from the previous few days.  


You wave at them and join them at the couch, plopping down and staring at the screen. “What are you guys setting up?” you ask, smiling at them. “Uh, we’re just setting up to do a bit of MC. Wanna watch? Or join? Up to you,” Gavin responds, offering a controller. You shrug, and push the device away. “I’m okay with watching, don’t mind me.” You glance at Geoff, and then Michael. “So, you seem to be in a much better mood,” Gavin points out bluntly. Michael shoves him roughly and glares at the Brit, before turning back to you in slight curiosity. “Oh, y’know. Finally have some motivation to actually do shit.” You shrug, as if your behaviour from the past few days has been nothing too serious.  


Geoff seems a bit suspicious, and you smile at him softly. He frowns and squints at you for a moment, shaking his head slightly. You pout, and then turn towards the screen. You hang out with the boys for a while, and when Ryan leaves for work, you can’t help but notice his stare as you laugh and chat with the rest of the Fakes. It gives you hope. The day goes pretty smoothly from there, and, without even realising it, you spend the whole day with varying members of the crew. You even meet some of the background members that Lindsay had mentioned before. They had come to celebrate the successful night, but couldn’t stay long. Still, though, the introductions were nice and you had a lot of fun.  


Ryan gets back later in the evening than usual, looking a little frazzled. He goes straight to his room without a word, which is normal, but you can’t help but worry about him. You spend a bit more time with Jeremy and Jack, but soon excuse yourself to your room, bidding everybody a good night and thanking them for letting you hang out with them. They wave it off, reminding you that you’re always welcome, and saying goodnight. You head back to your room, glancing over at Ryan’s room. His door is slightly open, and you can hear him fussing with something. Without thinking, you walk over and peek into his room, watching him fumble over his sheets while trying to set his bed.  


You giggle softly, knocking on his door softly. “Ryan..? Would you like help..? I’ll leave you alone after, I promise,” you offer quietly, pushing his door open a bit further. He doesn’t even look at you. “No. Go away,” he replies. You sigh softly, but your heart is soaring. He spoke to you, finally! You close the door behind yourself as you leave his room, heading into your own and setting an alarm on your new phone. You change into PJs and get some rest.

The following morning, your alarm wakes you up bright and early. You get up quickly and sneak your way out of your room, heading down the hall quickly and quietly in hopes of getting to the meeting room before you miss the beginning of Geoff’s run-down of the next heist. You make it just in time to see Jack close the door, but she never sees you. You smile brightly to yourself, sneaking up to the door and pressing up against it, listening as carefully as you can to Geoff’s instructions. You even grabbed a little piece of paper to write down the important parts to the plan.  


When he finishes explaining everything, you sneak away as quickly and quietly as you can, heading back to your room and climbing back into your bed, stuffing the paper away for safekeeping. You know that the boys won’t actually start preparing for their next heist until Tuesday, so you need to keep it together until then. You go back to sleep for the rest of the morning, feeling good about your progress. You’ll have to remember to get those devices from Jeremy, though.

When Tuesday morning comes along, you get up and shower early in the morning, waiting quietly for everyone to leave their rooms, and gather in the main room before you exit your own bedroom. You then wait, again, for everyone to leave the suite before following after them quietly. While they take the elevator, you take the stairs. You get to the ground floor just in time to see them leave, and find yourself without a car, frowning as you watch them drive off. Thankfully, however, Jeremy taught you a couple things about the devices that lets you know the general whereabouts of each of the Fakes. He explained that it was so that they could track the progress of each of their objectives.  


You turned on your earpiece and immediately muted yourself, cringing hardcore when you’re met with the screams of Gavin and Michael. “Shut up!” Geoff shouts over everyone. “Okay. Today is just scoping everything out. Making sure we know where our vehicles and people will be placed, making sure we’ve got the right place, et cetera. Try not to make too much of a fool of yourself, please?” You smile at the success of your own plotting so far.  


You find a vehicle and make it your own, biting your lip as you look around, trying desperately to work quickly and quietly so as to not get caught. You mutter softly to yourself, checking to make sure you’re muted, and get the car started in a few long, painful minutes. With a long, slow exhale, you settle behind the wheel and adjust your seat, and head off in the direction that Jeremy’s little device said they went off in. You hum softly to yourself, taking note of where the boys stopped and parking a little ways off.  


You listen to them talk and describe their positions and objectives, adding yourself into the mix as extra backup, like Jeremy, to help keep the cops off their asses as they escape. You listen to the escape plan, and frown slightly as you try to think of a way to follow them. You suppose that if you leave this car off to the side then you could probably follow them at a safe distance, taking care of oncoming cops. You feel a slight adrenaline rush at the surprising success of the whole ordeal thus far.  


The boys and Jack continue to talk about everything that’s supposed to go down, and the end goal is to try and make it to the beach as quickly as possible. As they’re finishing up, you start up your car and head back to home base, getting up to the suite and settling down on the couch just as Geoff walks in, talking to Jack. You had left all of the devices in the car that you’re ‘borrowing’ for the time being, so you’re completely unsuspicious, aside from being awake so early. Even then, you seem tired enough to make it seem as though you had only just woken up.  


You spend the rest of the day with boys and Jack as normal, talking amongst them, playing a couple games, and just in general enjoying yourself and the time spent with them. The next few days of set-up and progress towards the next heist go just as smoothly. You could not be any happier with yourself than the week and a half leading up to the third heist that the Fakes do in your presence. You hope that the heist will go just as well for everyone. If everything goes according to plan, you’ll be back in the suite and ready to help with wounds, and nobody will even know that you had been there.  


The night before the heist, you’re talking to Jeremy and Gavin about their plans, humming and listening to them with a deep interest and involvement in the heist. You smile to yourself, knowing you’ll be able to hear Ryan’s sweet voice again for sure during tomorrow night’s heist. They won’t even know you were helping them. Everything will be perfect, and you’ll be able to reveal everything and Geoff will accept you as one of the Fakes… You wonder what your code name will be, once you’re official. You shiver slightly in excitement, getting an odd look from Gavin.  


As your conversation with Jeremy and Gavin comes to a close, you yawn quietly, giving a small stretch. “Well, I’m glad you guys are excited about tomorrow. I bet it’ll be great. Here’s to a successful heist with as few casualties as possible!” You raise a small glass of juice, and they join in the playful toast, laughing and continuing to talk as you drink your juice and then bid them goodnight. You find yourself barely able to sleep that night, too excited for the evening to come. Eventually, after hours of tossing and turning, you welcome sleep and get a good night’s rest.


	9. Chapter 9

As you regain coherent thought and control of your body on Friday morning, your eyes snap open and you smile up at the ceiling. Today is the day. You’ll follow the Fakes to their location, back them up, keep them covered, and return back to base while they escape the cops. When they join you back at base, you’ll patch them up and reveal that you had been there, and that you were just fine, and then Geoff will have no choice but to include you. Once you were a member of the Fakes, you could do more official heists with the crew, and then Ryan will talk to you again. Everything is working out perfectly.  


You get up and shower, dressing up real nicely and putting on some make-up since your mood has got you feeling really fancy for once. You feel good about yourself, and you want to show it. Joining the boys in the main room provides you with all the reactions you could have asked for, from blatant ogling to surprise and happiness to see you doing better. You love it. It makes you feel great, because they have absolutely no idea what schemes you have planned.  


You hang out with the guys in the main room, occasionally breaking for snacks or bathroom breaks, but generally spending the time with Jeremy, Michael and Gavin. Geoff, Ryan and Jack were all going over last minute plans, trying to make sure they had the best routes for everything. The goal was to get to international waters as quickly as possible. You felt giddy, all excited for the heist. You could tell that the guys were confused about your behaviour, but when they asked, you avoided the question entirely. They eventually just stopped asking, which worked in your favour.  


Finally, about half an hour before the heist, Geoff walks in with Ryan and Jack in tow, all three dressed and ready to head out. Geoff claps his hands together loudly, immediately gaining everyone’s attention. “Alright boys! Clean up, get your masks and weapons. We’re heading out in five minutes! Ryan, Jack and Gavin, you guys know where to go. Jeremy, you’ve got the ATV again for extra cover. You seem to be the best at it. Michael, you’re with me inside. Get ready to go!” He claps again and exits the room, and you sigh heavily, trying to seem disappointed as they all get ready to head out. You wish them all good luck, and tell them to try to minimize injuries. They laugh, though you weren’t making a joke.  


Once the boys were out, you sprinted back to your room and quickly got dressed, grabbing your shit and heading to the garage all the way on the ground floor. You knew for certain that they’d be gone by the time you got there, since the Fakes weren’t typically ones to fuck around during heists. Everything was get the shit and get moving. You grabbed your totally legal and not at all stolen car, checking the seats for your sniper rifle, tracker and comms device. Once everything was checked and double checked, you started up your two little devices, muted your mic and started the engine on your car. You rolled out a few seconds later, following the blip on your map.  


You’re barely listening to the boys as the bicker, only tuning in when they seem to start going over the plans one last time. You’re suddenly made extremely alert when Gavin points out, “hey, why’s there a blip behind us? We’re all in here, I thought?” You immediately shut your device off, though it means you can’t track them anymore. Their car isn’t anywhere near you. You sigh and start heading for their heist location instead. You hear them start bickering again, “What? There’s nothing there. You’re crazy,” Michael scoffs. “Wot? I- There was! I swear I saw it!” Gavin squeaks. You hear someone sigh loudly, and Jack’s voice picks up, “guys, hush. It was probably a glitch. You know these things have their moments.” Everyone settles, and they continue where the conversation left off.  


You find a spot to park a little ways away from the objective, getting out of your car and grabbing your sniper. You grab your tracker and stare at it for a few seconds before tossing it back onto the seat and heading up to the roof of the building a little ways away from where Jeremy was stationed. You settle down and let out a breath, checking over everything on the gun and making sure you had extra ammunition before tuning into the conversation with the Fakes again. “Alright boys! We’re about three minutes away, so get your masks on, finish up your paint, whatever you need to do. We get one shot at this,” he commands, and you watch their car come around the corner, go right by you, and then circle back around again to give everyone time to finish up what they’re doing.  


You watch the car through your scope as the Fakes park close by, taking note on how Jeremy isn’t among them anymore. Jack only briefly gets out into the open, quickly making her way to the escape vehicle to wait for Geoff and Michael. Gavin gets out and goes into an alleyway nearby, with Ryan circling around on the opposite side. If you squint, you can see them set charges all along the sides of the buildings. You frown and bite your lip, looking up briefly to see Jeremy settling into his spot a few buildings down. You drop lower and pray that he doesn’t see you. Finally, you focus in on Geoff and Michael, watching them as they look around for witnesses while they ready themselves with weapons and the sack for the cash.  


Taking a deep breath, you slowly scan the area, knowing Jeremy is doing the same a few buildings down. You spot an idle bystander nearby, and your finger hovers over the trigger briefly, but when you looked back to Geoff and Michael, you saw that they were pretty far away and that the pedestrian was no threat. You watch as Geoff and Michael walk towards the objective, so sure of themselves. They had their guns at the ready, looking around briefly for their crewmates, and each of the boys counted off their readied positions before Geoff and Michael busted into the building.  


Your attention immediately went to the pedestrian, but they were gone and there was no one else around that you needed to worry about. Michael and Geoff were intimidating the cashier, Jeremy was checking in with everyone again, Gavin and Ryan were putting the finishing touches on the explosives. Everything was coming in nicely. And then, “guys, hurry up and get out of there. We’ve got sirens in the distance. Somebody alerted the police.” You looked up and down the street, and then focused in on the distance. An unfamiliar, male voice suddenly picks up. “Hey, guys, we’ve got an extra comm up. Anybody have an idea? Lindsay and I are trying to go over our numbers but we’ve got nothing.”  


There’s silence across the board as the sirens grow louder. Finally, just as the cops show up, Michael and Geoff bust out of the building and sprint in the direction that Jack had gone previously. You hear gunshots, and see flashes, and your eyes go blurry and you feel your head go light, but everything is suddenly brought back as you hear Jeremy say, “I’ve got your backs! Get out of here, I’ll be with you’s soon!” And then the unmistakable sound of the sniper goes off, and you’re suddenly hyper aware of your surroundings. You scope in on the cops, take aim, take a breath, and pull the trigger. The sound is deafening, but you push through.  


The amount of cops on the street begins to clear, but more cars are on their way. You see the escape vehicle pull out and zoom down the street, and a few more gunshots ring out across the streets and then your peripherals catch Jeremy as he stands and heads back towards his own escape. You hear more of the unfamiliar voice, asking again about the unknown comm. You stay silent, looking up and down the street with the rifle before standing up and packing everything back together before making your way off the building and to your car.  


Inside the vehicle, you throw the rifle to the back and pick up another, semi-automatic. You roll your windows down and start the engine, pulling out and swerving to avoid the abandoned cop cars as you turn your tracker back on finally and head off in the direction of the Fakes, providing them with the extra backup that they didn’t know they had. Another voice comes through the comms, this time you can recognise it at Lindsay’s. “Hey, y’all, did one of you get left behind? The trackers’ picking up someone way behind.” You frown deeply, trying to ignore the fact that they’re catching onto the irregularity that is yourself. “Nah, it’s not me. I’m with the others, I caught up. I am noticing that cops are going down much faster. Whoever it is, I wouldn’t worry about it. They seem to be holding their own, plus they're friendly if they’ve got our own equipment.”  


A glance at your rearview mirror brings an unwanted sight. You hadn’t noticed it before, as you took care of the cops that were tailing the Fakes from behind, but you see now that you are also being followed. You swerve suddenly, your awareness of the surroundings suddenly revisiting you and the sounds of gunshots and explosions ringing out all along the roads. You see the beach in the distance and shut down a few more cop cars before swerving off and heading in your own direction, glancing in the rearview to see if you’ve been followed. The sight of police hot on your tail sends uneasy nerves all across your system. You can’t return back to base if they’re following you.  


“Hey, that friendly just went way off course. Are we worrying themselves with them at all?” Lindsay’s voice comes back over the comm. Geoff's voice responds, “not now, Lindsay! We’re a little busy! We’ll worry about it later. If you’re so concerned, do a fuckin’ head count at base.” The distraction of the conversation causes you to miss one of your shots at the cops behind you. You note more sirens in the distance and pray that they aren’t backup for your chase. You keep going, flooring the gas and searching left and right for an escape route.  


Among the noise coming from the Fakes and from your surroundings, you hear your back window shatter and a spray of bullets comes into your car, causing you to scream and panic swerve. Hyperventilating, now, you steady your car and go way off road, using the now open window to spray and pray, though it seems rather ineffective. A few moments and Lindsay’s voice calling in a panic, “(Y/n)’s not at base!” later, and you find yourself crying out in pain as the police on your tail catch your right shoulder. Adrenaline allows you to switch hands and keep shooting and driving, but you can feel the blood seeping down your back and front, and you can feel your right hand beginning to go numb.  


You feel yourself running out of air, and the panic settles in as more bullets enter your car, a quick gasp escaping your mouth as you feel a sharp, stinging sensation in the upper left of your back. Your body arches in response, and your eyes widen as you realise what’s happening. You lose control over your mind and body, and your car goes off road in a matter of moments, bashing through a guardrail and tumbling down a long, steep slope. Your comms go out, and your device shuts down, smashed by all the rolling and tumbling as you go down the hill. By the time the car reaches the slow river at the bottom, you’ve completely lost consciousness.


	10. Chapter 10

The first thing you’re aware of is pain. Mind-bending, excruciating pain. You scrunch your nose, letting out a low whine. Your shoulder, your back… There’s a massive throbbing in your head that won’t go away. Your legs feel stiff, and you can’t feel your right arm at all. Through your closed eyes, you can tell that there are bright lights above you. You take a deep breath, and the clean, antiseptic air reminds you of a hospital. But that’s not right. How could you be in a hospital?  


You open your eyes slowly, blinking slowly at the sheer brightness of the room. Your entire body feels heavy, but that doesn’t make sense. You make a weak attempt to raise your arm, and it fails miserably. Instead, you turn your head slowly. Geoff is sleeping in the chair off to the side. You can see three other chairs around you, too, but only one other is occupied. “J-Jeremy..?” Your voice is small and weak, like the rest of your body. He looks up from his phone, his eyes tired and full of concern. They immediately widen. “Holy shit! Wait- fuck, oh man. Uh.. Shit. Geoff!” Jeremy gets up, setting his phone on his chair.  


You can tell that his first instinct is to get up and check on you, to make sure you’re okay, but instead he strides over and shakes Geoff back into consciousness. “She’s up. (Y/n)’s up,” he says urgently, gesturing towards you. “Huh, wha- oh fuck!” He gets up and slams the button above your bed that you hadn’t even noticed. Then he immediately steps out of the room, tapping his phone rapidly. Jeremy stays by your side, however, and grabs your hand gently. “Don’t worry, (Y/n). The doctors will be here any minute.  
A few moments pass of the two of you staring at each other, each of you exhausted in your own ways. He squeezes your hand softly, and then backs off as the doctors and nurses swarm the room. You can’t really comprehend what happens next. Everything happens so quickly, and all that you’re certain of is that you were quickly sent back to an unconscious state.

The next time you open your eyes, you’re able to look around and find the familiar faces of the Fakes. They were all watching you with varying degrees of concern, sitting or standing, some fidgeting and some totally still. You take a deep, shaky breath, and whisper softly, “hey, guys.” They all just keep staring at you. “Uh… How long have I been out..?” You try to smile, but even your face feels weak, and you can feel your exhaustion tugging at your eyelids. You barely hear the words, “four days,” before you fall asleep again.

Opening your eyes again, you can already feel a difference in your physical state. Geoff is still besides you, with Gavin sitting where Jeremy was and Michael beside Geoff. Jack stands idly in the corner, watching you worriedly. You smile softly at her, and you see her let out a heavy sigh. You bring your arms back and immediately gasp in pain, alerting the boys in the room. Michael immediately gets up and pushes you onto your back firmly. Your body arches and you cry out loudly, and he lets off quickly. “Shit, sorry… You gotta stay laying down, you took two shots to both sides of your torso, and you had a pretty rough ride down the side of a mountain…”  


With the description Michael provided, and the searing pain in your entire body, everything comes rushing back. The panic, the fear, the pain, the adrenaline. You feel completely and utterly stupid for ever thinking you could back up the Fakes without them knowing. Geoff sighs heavily, dropping his head into his hands. “How’d you guys find me..?” you ask softly. Jack stares at you for a long time. She finally says, “Lindsay discovered you weren’t in the base. Then she told us that the tracker was offline. We couldn’t get to you until after we lost the police and made it back to base. Then, we just went to the last place your tracker showed, and searched around.”  


You glance at Geoff, and barely catch him muttering to himself under his breath. “Geoff..? I’m sorry…” you whisper softly. He inhales slowly, and you see his body shake. “I should’ve known… I should have made the connection… Nobody gets better in 8 hours… I should’ve seen the signs…” he says, staring down at the ground. You frown a little, feeling deeply ashamed of yourself. “I’m sorry… I wanted to prove that I was capable… I wanted to join you guys… To show that I could do it…” You know that it’s no excuse, but it’s all you have.  


“You could’ve died, (Y/n),” Gavin says quietly. “The doctors weren’t sure if you’d wake up. The one bullet barely missed your heart.” Guilt grips your heart and you feel tears start to well up in your eyes. “I’m sorry… I just…” You can’t bring yourself to admit that you nearly died for the chance that Ryan might talk to you again. You look around at the guys in the room, and suddenly the door opens. Jeremy pokes his head in and looks around, and then smiles brightly when he sees that you’re awake. “Hey! Feeling better, now..?” He steps into the room, pushing the door open a little further. You smile at him and nod, but your mood immediately plummets when you see Ryan enter the room.  


The two of you immediately lock eyes, and you can see so many emotions in his eyes that it genuinely surprises you. You stare at him longingly, and watch his chest rise and fall with a deep breath. “I’m sorry, (Y/n),” he says finally. You shake your head slowly, trying to stay calm and collected. “It’s okay. I’m sorry, too,” you manage. He stares at you for a long while, then drops his gaze. “Why? Why’d you do it?” he asks quietly. You glance at the others, and then stare down at your lap in shame. “I… thought that if I proved myself to Geoff… I’d be able to join the Fakes… And you’d finally talk to me again…” He doesn’t look at you, only managing, “well… I don’t know about proving yourself to Geoff, but… Here we are…”  


You take a long, deep breath, and it suddenly feels like a huge weight has been lifted off your chest. You push yourself into an upright position, holding back tears of pain as your nerves are set aflame from the movement. Jeremy assists and steadys you gently, earning a small thank you. He nods and backs up. “Ryan?” You catch his attention gently. He raises his eyes, looking ashamed and sad. You manually command your body to push through the pain and open your arms slowly for a hug. “C’mere, Rye-bread. Please. This hurts.” He stares at you for a long time before finally giving in and approaching the bed, wrapping his arms around you in a secure hug.  


You feel his body start to shake and carefully move to brush your fingers through his hair, humming softly. “It’s okay, Ryan. I’m here. We’re all here for you. We’re not going anywhere…” He nuzzles into the side of your neck, and you feel his tears start to soak your skin. “I’m sorry, (Y/n), I’m so sorry,” he manages softly, repeating himself over and over as you continue to comfort him. You look at the others who seem to be a mix of awkward, uncomfortable and, on Geoff’s part, not surprised in the slightest. “You guys can go if you want… I’ll be okay with Ryan,” you say, staring mostly at Geoff. He rolls his eyes and stands up, waving at the others to tell them to go with him.  


“See you guys later,” you call softly. Jeremy waves on his way out, smiling at you encouragingly. You scoot over on your bed as the door shuts, pulling Ryan with you. He hesitates, but climbs up onto the hospital bed with you, nuzzling against you. “Everything will be okay, now, Ryan. We’re here, now. Together. We’ll be okay. Just promise me we’ll spend more time together. Please…” You nuzzle the top of his head softly and he nods. “I’ll try to take more time off from work… I won’t ignore you, and I’ll even miss heists if I have to… I won’t leave you ever again…” You feel him snuggle closer, and hug him tightly. “That’s all I want…” you say softly, yawning again. “I’m gonna fall asleep again… Stay..?” He nods a little, and you let yourself slip back into the dream world.


	11. Epilogue

Months have gone by. Maybe even years. It’s hard to tell with such an exciting life with the Fakes. It’s amazing how well everything turned out in the end. You stare across the table at your loving boyfriend. Once upon a time, you loved a man, and then you feared him, and then you loved him again. That man is here today, sitting in front of you. He decided to miss the heist setup tonight in favour of spoiling you to a dinner night. Just the two of you.  


You smile and look around, humming quietly. “It’s such a nice place,” you sigh quietly. He nods in agreement. A soft draft of air blows over you, and you shudder slightly, subtly reminded of the exposed scars on your upper back. Seeming to read your thoughts, Ryan reaches out and gently squeezes your shoulder, leaning over the table to kiss your lips softly, sweet and slow. “It’s alright, dear. I love you all the same,” he comforts softly. You smile at him gratefully, his warm hand soothing your nerves. He lets go of your shoulder, sitting idly at the table with you while you wait for your food.  


The night goes by slowly, comfortably. You talk with Ryan quietly, discussing thoughts and opinions. Heist ideas, successes and failures. You talk briefly about the one jewelry store that was almost a failure. He chuckles softly and shakes his head a bit. You smile, feeling like the luckiest woman on the planet. You finish your food happily, and as you clean up and start getting ready to leave, he pauses. “How about we leave via the scenic walkway..? I want to make this night special,” he offers. You hum and nod a little, though the night is already memorable just because it’s a night spent with Ryan.  


He takes your hand and leads you through a set of glass doors, into a kind of greenhouse area. The flowers are in full bloom, despite it being mid fall, and the whole area is made even more spectacular by the sheer amount of stars painted all across the clear night sky. He leads you through the garden slowly, talking to you quietly about all the things he loves about you. “Your stubbornness, for sure,” he says playfully, coming to a stop and turning to you. You smile and shove him gently. He takes both of your hands in his own.  


“You really scared me that night, you know,” he says quietly. “I didn’t think we’d find you. I didn’t think you’d make it. I was so afraid to lose you forever.” You frown a little, shuffling your feet a little. “I-” you start to apologise, but he kisses your lips softly to keep you quiet. When he pulls back, he continues. “Honestly… I’m glad. For that night.” He shifts his hands up and gently brushes his fingers over each of your scars. “If it weren’t for that night, I never would’ve come to my senses..,” he sighs quietly. “I never would have realised that you and I are only temporary beings in this world…”  


He lets go of your shoulders and rests his hands at his sides, one hand in his pocket. “I never would have realised that you’re the best thing in my world,” he says getting down on one knee as he pulls his hand out of his pocket to reveal a small ring box. “Or that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. (Y/n) (L/n), I love you so fucking much. You scared the hell out of me the night you nearly died.” He opens the box and reveals one of the many stolen rings from the jewelry store heist. “But will you please, please, do me the honour of spending the rest of your days with me as my wife?”  


The amount of shock coursing through your body at the moment cannot be described by words. You feel tears well up and immediately spill over, and you collapse into his arms, hugging him tightly while repeating, “yes, yes, always yes,” over and over. You can’t even begin to describe the amount of joy you feel, burying your face against his neck and hugging him so tightly that he has to ask you to loosen up because he can’t breathe. The night has been made so much better by such a small thing, and it’s absolutely amazing to you.  


He slips the ring onto your finger subtly before hugging you tightly, kissing you all over your face. “I promise I’ll make it worth it… You won’t regret this, (Y/n). I love you so much.” You smile brightly through your tears. You barely manage to speak through your tears, whispering, “I love you, too, James Ryan Haywood. I love you, too.”


End file.
